Homeland Security Agent Unable to Explain Domain Seizure Standards
Homeland Security and ICE recent seized multiple domains that simply linked to pirated content. On NPR's Marketplace Tech Report today, an agent from Homeland Security was on to defend the raids. The legality of the action is dubious at best, and host Jon Moe pressed the agent with one simple question: if linking to pirated content gets you pulled from the Internet, what about Google?
Agent Hayes said ICE wouldn't be seizing Google's domain, but that comes as no surprise. He explained they are targeting sites that do not ensure their domain is free of links to infringing materials. The agent said their intent was not to go after the hundreds of infringing sites, but to go after the big linking sites to decrease piracy. Moe rightly responds, "Well, Google gets a lot of traffic." Hayes is of the opinion that search engines are different, but there is no rationale given. It gives the impression that government law enforcement is at the beck and call of the entertainment industry.
The same Google comparison has been made about torrent sites, which do not host content, but provide torrent files that direct torrent clients to the files. The feds seem perfectly happy to take those offline as well. It’s a bit of a double standard, but let's face facts. Google has lots of money and lawyers, and it employs a lot of people. A site that happens to link to a pirated video stream, that can be scrubbed from the Internet easily, cheaply, and to the cheers of the content owners.
Comments
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benjerome
February 09, 2011 at 3:24am
I still download movies and music it's free and if i do not like a
movie are a cd i can delte it and not feel bad about it. Unlike if pay
20+ dollars for a DVD and under 15 for a CD i will not be wasting
my money
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zack822
February 08, 2011 at 5:04pm
This is what happens when the goverment has way to much power.. Stop the goverment from doing this crap...
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casiodorus
February 05, 2011 at 3:06pm
Please consider watching these LEGALLY FREE videos that explains how and why the banks/corporations control the government, law enforcement, FBI/CIA and Homeland Security. You'll be able to educate yourself and to summize that we aren't as free as we think we are...we are all being controlled by some very wealthy and powerful people.
The videos are available on YouTube as well as Bittorrent:
- Zeitgeist
- Zeitgeist Addendum
- Zeitgeist Moving Forward
- The End of America (you can add "Naomi Wolf" as an optional search query)
Corporations are attempting "take down' notices on YouTube by claiming that they OWN copyright on these videos when they don't, but no one can censor BitTorrent (which is interesting considering the US is considering a national internet kill switch).
Watch them and you make your own decisions on the topics. You can legally burn copies of these videos and distribute them as widely as you can. Remember to seed.
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fellowleo
February 05, 2011 at 7:52am
Much like extremely toxic chemicals, domains with little commercial value are easy to regulate (or seize) and those with a lot of commercial valve are hard to regulate.
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Shure
February 04, 2011 at 7:15pm
As far as I'm concerned DHS and all the similar agencies are useless!
Want proof?
Here is proof -
http://911blogger.com/news/2011-02-03/robert-poirier-youssef-hmimssa-and-attacks-september-11-2001
Write something about that!
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Bullwinkle J Moose
February 04, 2011 at 6:51pm
This is a related topic but also covers the FBI as well
http://s1.zetaboards.com/pumpitout/topic/4103260/1/#new
Every time this AMERICAN tries to report ACTUAL Terrorism related crimes to the FBI or the Dept of Homeland Security, the report simply dissapears and no follow up is ever made
He can't even post these phoncalls on the Internet for the World to hear without being arrested for violating U.S. Law
It's a good thing that the calls can be recorded and posted in Canada or you would never hear about any of these posts that repeatedly get censored and deleted from American Forums
Will America be the next EGYPT?
Will I be arrested for linking to this or will it just be deleted or censored?
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MaximumMike
February 04, 2011 at 5:32pm
World's longest sentence fragment:
A site that happens to link to a pirated video stream, that can be scrubbed from the Internet easily, cheaply, and to the cheers of the content owners.
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Dysthymia
February 04, 2011 at 4:56pm
They are at the beck and call of big business; the big players in the entertainment industry in this case. And since the law passed allowing anonymous corporate donations to politicians in any amount, I doubt it will change.
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RUSENSITIVESWEETNESS
February 04, 2011 at 4:48pm
What the hell does homeland security have to do with downloads of movies and songs?
Yeah, it sounds like the Department of Homeland Security is becoming the entertainment industry's private Gestapo. And I thought we were being protected from terrorists with WMDs.
Our government is so full of shit.
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Danthrax66
February 04, 2011 at 4:30pm
Thinking like this is why our country is falling behind the rest of the world.
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al360ex
February 05, 2011 at 1:27am
Listening to your country thinking like this is why my country is falling behind the rest of the world too. By "my country", I mean Canada and our incredibly talented Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
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Biceps
July 27, 2011 at 3:35pm
HAHA, you mean the one we picked for you? He will do everything we (the US) ask him to. He'll start with your Nationalized health care, then hand us all of your natural resources! Thank, eh!
On a serious note, good luck. Harper is a bad egg that Canada needs to get out of office - the guy has been bought and paid for.
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