Mozilla Refuses Homeland Security's Request to Remove Firefox Add-on
Mozilla Refuses Homeland Security's Request to Remove Firefox Add-on
Posted 05/06/2011 at 7:14am
| by Paul Lilly
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The U.S. Department of Homeland Security sent Mozilla a request to remove a Firefox add-on that redirects web surfers from one domain to another. At issue is the MafiaaFire Redirect add-on, which redirects visitors from one domain to another, making it all too easy to sidestep the government's domain name seizures. Be that as it may, Mozilla is so far refusing to comply.
Mozilla lawyer Harvey Anderson explains in a blog post why exactly Mozilla isn't so quick to just remove the add-on to prevent Homeland Security from breathing down its neck.
"Our approach is to comply with valid court orders, warrants, and legal mandates, but in this case there was no such court order," Anderson says.
Furthermore, Anderson sent a series of questions to Homeland Security asking if any courts have determined that the Mafiaafire add-on is unlawful or illegal in any way, whether or not Mozilla is legally obligated to disable the add-on, and asked for a copy of the relevant seizure order upon which the request to take down the add-on is based upon. According to Anderson, none of those questions were met with a response.
"One of the fundamental issues here is under what conditions do intermediaries accede to government requests that have a censorship effect and which may threaten the open Internet," Anderson says. "Others have commented on these practices already. In this case, the underlying justification arises from content holders legitimate desire to combat piracy. The problem stems from the use of these government powers in service of private content holders when it can have unintended and harmful consequences. Longterm, the challenge is to find better mechanisms that provide both real due process and transparency without infringing upon developer and user freedoms traditionally associated with the Internet."
It will be interesting to see if Google takes the same stance against Internet censorship. According to ArsTechnica, the developer of MafiaaFire Redirector is working on a version for Chrome that will be out soon.
Image Credit: icanhascheezburger.com
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praack
May 09, 2011 at 5:58am
Yes it redirects, - I am not web savvy enough - is this equivelent to being able to bypass the great firewall of china?
so if the normal website is siezed this add in allows you to find another route to an active mirror or to the original?
I think if I understood more what it did I could see what homeland wants, still might be a big infringement as we lose more freedom here in the US
Vernak
May 08, 2011 at 6:17pm
From talking about this with peers, I dont believe the "refusal" is as strong as people make it out to be. Mozilla's legal counsel very respectfully asked the right questions concerning Homeland Security's request.
The "do we have to" question is simply preceding the "should we" question.
We'll just have to wait and see just how much political strong-arming Homeland Security is going to throw at them now.
Eoraptor
May 10, 2011 at 6:45am
Actually it is, most other companies would quickly comply, and some, in fact, would do so quite happily, beleiving that ana ppearence of willingness to work with DHS might bring fat gubment contracts their way (look at the ways the tel'cos complied with warrantless wiretaps) So, standing up and telling DHS to go out and do the legallegwork instead of happily _insert graphic metaphor here_ is something noteable.
OliverSudden
May 06, 2011 at 8:28pm
"and asked for a copy of the relevant seizure order upon which the request to take down the add-on is based upon"
If you've used upon once (before which), you don't use it again at the end. That's like saying "in which we live in."
Grammar. It's not just for breakfast anymore.
siramic
May 06, 2011 at 10:23am
It sounds like Mozilla has a good lawyer on their hands in Harvey Anderson. It also sounds like he asked all the right questions...who are you, where is your court ordered legal authority to tell us to do this. Thanks goodness their standing up to this possible usurping of power by Homeland Security.
TRYER
May 06, 2011 at 5:38pm
Exactly and if they took down that addon without a court order, I am sure Homeland will make it a habit of thinking they can just ask politely and get what they want. I don't think so.
ShyLinuxGuy
May 06, 2011 at 9:49am
Homeland Security has FAR more sh*t to worry about than piracy and appeasing with the *AA whiners.
Nimrod
May 08, 2011 at 12:01am
Ive got news for you. They dont care about the real threats like the open boarder. They are nothing but a domestic federal police force dedicated to corporate justice and liberty for non.
warptek2010
May 07, 2011 at 11:50pm
Competely agree too. When the hell did Homeland become the police force for intellectual property rights? I thought they were set up to... I dunno... protect the homeland from actual threats????
Eoraptor
May 08, 2011 at 7:39am
It's because Customs Enforecement (IE keeping pirated material from our shores and supposedly keeping out drugs too) was combined with Immigration, forming ICE, which is under Homeland Security.
Eoraptor
May 06, 2011 at 8:02am
Good for Mozilla... Major points for not simply bending over for the forces of RIAA and MPAA. Of course, they can go right back to the courts and buy the legal justification they want, but MOzilla is at least forcing them to take that step instead of just rolling over and asking for more.
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