US Gov't Shuts Down 82 Pirate Websites

The United States government has shut down a total of 82 websites accused of selling pirated goods, including music and movies. But these aren't just torrents: amongst the targeted pages are those that sell clothing, sunglasses, and even handbags.

The seizure orders came from the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement ("ICE") agencies and apply to eight states in addition to Washington, D.C. A selection of the sites includes Torrent-finder.com, DVDscollection.com, Sunglasses-mall.com, and NFLjerseysupply.com. (Source: informationweek.com)

Disrupting the Flow of Counterfeit Goods

Official word on the shutdowns came this past Monday, courtesy of the government. "With today's seizures, we are disrupting the sale of thousands of counterfeit items," said U.S. Attorney General, Eric Holder.

"We are cutting off funds to those looking to profit from the sale of illegal goods and exploit the ingenuity of others. And, as the holiday shopping season gets underway, we are also reminding consumers to exercise caution when looking for deals and discounts online. To put it simply: If a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is."

Visitors to the sites shut down by the government were presented with the message that Immigration and Customs Enforcement had taken over the domain name of the page. The sites also carried this warning: "Willful copyright infringement is a federal crime that carries penalties for first time offenders of up to five years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine, forfeiture and restitution."

The warning added: "Intentionally and knowingly trafficking in counterfeit goods is a federal crime that carries penalties for first time offenders of up to ten years in federal prison, a $2,000,000 fine, forfeiture and restitution."

Not Everyone Happy with Government's Actions

The government's actions aren't sitting well with everyone, however.

Tech blogs, like TechDirt, were shortly thereafter full of angry commenters who felt the ICE had stepped beyond its bounds. Particularly troubling for these people was the shutting down of Torrent-finder.com; torrents remain a murky topic when it comes to discussions of copyright infringement.

Mike Masnick, founder of TechDirt, had this to say: "[ICE] went way beyond its mandate to seize a whole bunch of domain names...Many of the operators of the domain names seized... state they hadn't received any notification of complaints, let alone demands to be taken down." (Source: pcworld.com)