U.S. Government Seizes BitTorrent Search Engine Domain and More
Cedric Laurant
cedric at LAURANT.ORG
Sun Nov 28 01:46:16 CET 2010
What's the difference between looking for music torrent files (e.g.,
from U2) on torrentfinder.com or torrentfinder.info...
(URL linking to the "U2" search results below:)
[http://torrent-finder.info/show.php?q=u2&Browse=tabs&PageLoad=loadall&select=13&sids=369-23-314-323-21-388-372-9-16-395-344-364-406-389-361-226-1-3-84-36-6-396-316-386-334-18-37-29-60-367-365-44-253-38-48-8-15-306-4-337-14-330-252-56-108-313-54-51-351-370-72-80-264-55-245-307-340-41-353-390-343-276-368-393-5-26-296-31-325-20-387-251-238-68-77-7-65-397-35-405-246-404-256-333-379-385-249-279-105-87-319-320-89-377-99-104-298-133-109-262-378-347-293-274-119-140-282-110-373-122-257-144-284-403-103-311-123-142-381-283-391-401-85-97-141-121-374-101-324-375-52-153-154-400-394-280-150-317-346-399-269-345-336-402-392-339-363-92-329-120-354-357-155-398-156-157-321-355-162-303-166-165-167-169-]
... and going to Google (or Bing, or any other search engine) to find
torrent files about the same band?
(URL linking to the "U2" and ".torrent" search results below:)
[http://www.google.com/#hl=en&source=hp&biw=&bih=&q=u2+.torrent&btnG=Google+Search&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=u2+.torrent&gs_rfai=&fp=cb647db4758c7406]
If you click on either link, the results are about the same: they
both point you to torrent files or to websites linking to them.
Does this mean that the DHS-ICE will soon order Google and other
non-torrent specific search engines to censor their results whenever
they link to torrent files, or to websites linking themselves to
torrent files, or to websites linking to other websites linking
themselves to torrent files, or all of them?
Are those websites then also considered to be "intentionally and
knowingly trafficking in counterfeit goods" like what the ICE
considers torrent-finder.com to be doing?
Why are torrent-finder's conditions of use not considered valid?
>There is no copyrighted material on this page or any page herein,
>nor do we link directly to copyrighted material. Materials falling
>under copyright laws in the United States, and/or any nation with
>similar copyright laws, obtained indirectly through this site are
>not the responsibility of this site's administrator as the files are
>distributed by outside sources not having any affiliation or contact
>with this site or it's administrator. The administrator of the site
>does not condone copyright infringement and does not actively
>participate in the direct distribution of copyrighted materials, nor
>will he/she direct users to any such copyrighted materials. In
>accepting this agreement, you forfeit the right to hold the
>administrator and/or the host of this site responsible for any
>materials obtained directly or indirectly from this page and/or the
>pages herein. The author's use of TORRENT files and the BitTorrent
>client are for educational purposes only. By using the TORRENT files
>on this site for the purpose of committing copyright infringement,
>you acknowledge full responsibility for any legal consequences of
>your actions. If you do not agree with any and/or all of this
>agreement, you are legally required to leave this site. For further
>inquiries, please contact kurtubba at gmail.com
(http://torrent-finder.info/agreement.php)
Cedric
---
>Hi Marc,
>
>On Sat, Nov 27, 2010 at 8:25 AM, Marc Rotenberg
><<mailto:rotenberg at epic.org>rotenberg at epic.org> wrote:
>
>According to the New York York Times, it was the Dept of
>Homeland Security (the same agency that brought us
>airport body scanners) that seized the BitTorrent site and others.
>This seems odd since it is the US Dept of Justice that would
>typically investigate copyright matters.
>
>Note also that this action took place prior to Senate action
>on COICA.
>
>
>
>Yes. In fact, this type of seizure by ICE occurred previously this
>past summer,
>e.g., <http://www.thedomains.com/2010/07/01/feds-seize-9-domains-for-copyright-infringement-but-based-on-what-law/>http://www.thedomains.com/2010/07/01/feds-seize-9-domains-for-copyright-infringement-but-based-on-what-law/
>
>Speculating on the relationship to COICA, perhaps the legislation is
>being pushed to provide solid legal justification for these type of
>seizures. Or maybe to pressure US-based DNS operators to simply
>comply with DHS ICE seizure requests (as one registry apparently did
>in this case).
>
>
>--
>Brenden Kuerbis
>Internet Governance Project
><http://internetgovernance.org>http://internetgovernance.org
>
>
>
>Marc Rotenberg
>EPIC
>
>-----------------------------
>
>
>
><http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/27/technology/27torrent.html>http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/27/technology/27torrent.html
>
>U.S. Shuts Down Web Sites in Piracy Crackdown
>By BEN SISARIO
>Published: November 26, 2010
>
>In what appears to be the latest phase of a far-reaching federal
>crackdown on online piracy of music and movies, the Web addresses of
>a number of sites that facilitate illegal file-sharing were seized
>this week by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a division of the
>Department of Homeland Security.
>
>By Friday morning, visiting the addresses of a handful of sites that
>either hosted unauthorized copies of films and music or allowed
>users to search for them elsewhere on the Internet produced a notice
>that said, in part: "This domain name has been seized by ICE -
>Homeland Security Investigations, pursuant to a seizure warrant
>issued by a United States District Court."
>
> * * *
>
>
>
>
>
>
>On Nov 27, 2010, at 1:57 AM, Alex Gakuru wrote:
>
>> Does this mean *all* search engines with links will be shut down
>> anytime, including 'Big G'?
> >
>> On 11/27/10, Alex Gakuru <<mailto:gakuru at gmail.com>gakuru at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Why complained earlier on expectations that cash strapped ccTLDs especially
>>> in Africa/developing cannot afford parallel servers, databases and time
>>> costs to enforce third parties IP/copyrights/trademark etc interests. It
> >> somehow 'feels' safer NOT to register a .com now?
>>>
>>> On Sat, Nov 27, 2010 at 7:34 AM, Robin Gross
>>><<mailto:robin at ipjustice.org>robin at ipjustice.org> wrote:
> >>
>>>> The latest info that I've seen is that Verisign assigned new DNS servers
>>>> at the Registry level, and then locked the domain so that even the
>>>> Registrar
>>>> can't update it. So now it looks like it may have been VeriSign who
>>>> "seized" them. No word on ICANN's role in this situation, if any.
>>>>
>>>>
> >>>
>>>> On Nov 26, 2010, at 8:29 PM, Marc Perkel wrote:
>>>>
>>>> So was it ICANN that actually did the seizing?
>>>>
>>>> On 11/26/2010 7:25 PM, Michael Haffely wrote:
>>>>
>>>> The concerning part about the report from today is that the domain owner
>>>> never received any complaint or due process before the domains were
>>>> seized.
>>>> It appears that no Cease and Desist, warrant, suit, or other criminal
>>>> complaint was brought up before the domain was taken. What if (for an
>>>> example) this behavior is taken up by the Patent and Copyright "trolls".
>>>> What happens to an individual/nonprofit/organization when they have their
>>>> domain yanked out from under them?
>>>>
>>>> If ICANN is to seize domains from their rightful owners by demand of a
>>>> law
>>>> enforcement agency we need to have a clear, *rapid* appeals process to
>>>> prevent abuse by corporations, law enforcement agencies, and governments.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> -Mike H.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Fri, Nov 26, 2010 at 8:46 PM, Andrew A. Adams
>>>><<mailto:aaa at meiji.ac.jp>aaa at meiji.ac.jp> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Very similar moves are happening in the UK, with Nominet (UK non-profit
>>>>> with
>>>>> the .uk (and .gb) country-code delegation) engaging with the UK's SOCA
>>>>> (Serious and Organised Crime Agency *) to remove 1200 "sites engaged in
> >>>> selling counterfeit goods" recently and now doing a more explicit deal
>>>>> with
>>>>> the police to take down the DNS registration for sites "alleged to be
>>>>> involved in criminal activity".
>>>>>
> >>>>
><http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/11/25/nominet_crime/>http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/11/25/nominet_crime/
>>>>>
>>>>> (*) The SOCA is a rather dodgy organisation, IMHO. When it was set up
>>>>> the
>>>>> then home secrewtary made a big thing of it not being actually police
>>>>> and
>>>>> therefore not bound by the requirements that the police have to respect
> >>>> the
>>>>> human rights of citizens. THat's a recipe for a secret police operating
>>>>> extra-judicially and here we see exactly that kind of approach.
>>>>>
>>>>> I am very worried by these kinds of moves. Zittrain's "The Future of the
>>>>> Internet" and Mueller's "Networks and States" concerns about censorship
>>>>> becoming the norm not the exception online seem to be coming true. While
>>>>> I'm
>>>>> not in favour of criminals having free reign, the trouble is that all
>>>>> the
>>>>> hard won freedoms such as due process, balance of rights, etc. seem to
>>>>> be
>>>>> being thrown out in the digital domain.
>>>>>
>>>>>
> >>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> Professor Andrew A Adams
>>>>> <mailto:aaa at meiji.ac.jp>aaa at meiji.ac.jp
>>>>> Professor at Graduate School of Business Administration, and
>>>>> Deputy Director of the Centre for Business Information Ethics
>>>>> Meiji University, Tokyo, Japan
>>>>><http://www.a-cubed.info/>http://www.a-cubed.info/
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> IP JUSTICE
>>>> Robin Gross, Executive Director
>>>> 1192 Haight Street, San Francisco, CA 94117 USA
>>>> p: +1-415-553-6261 f: +1-415-462-6451
>>>> w: <http://www.ipjustice.org>http://www.ipjustice.org e:
>>>><mailto:robin at ipjustice.org>robin at ipjustice.org
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> regards,
>>>
>>> Alex Gakuru
>>> <http://www.mwenyeji.com>http://www.mwenyeji.com
>>> Hosting, surprise yourself!
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> regards,
>>
>> Alex Gakuru
>> <http://www.mwenyeji.com>http://www.mwenyeji.com
>> Hosting, surprise yourself!
--
Cedric Laurant, Esq.
Attorney at Law (DC-USA) - Independent Consultant (Brussels, Belgium)
Senior Research Fellow, Center for Media and Communication Studies
Central European University (Budapest, Hungary)
<cedric at laurant.org> - Skype: cedrichl
Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/cedriclaurant
Blogs: http://blog.cedriclaurant.org - http://blog.security-breaches.com
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