Senator: domain name seizures "alarmingly unprecedented"

[Ohio Joe]

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/02/senator-us-domain-name-seizures-alarmingly-unprecedented.ars

Sites are being seized and we do not know who is making the complaints or if they are even valid complaints.

"His other questions are just as pointed, and they're all contained in a letter to ICE director John Morton. Wyden asks whether merely linking to infringing online content is illegal (several of the seized domain names did not host any infringing content themselves). He wants to know why the domain names are being seized, but why there's no attempt to prosecute those behind the sites, if these are really criminals. And he wants ICE to keep (and make public) a list of the companies that have lobbied for any particular site's name to be seized, all to ensure that “Operation In Our Sites is not used to create competitive advantages in the marketplace.”"


It also appears that anyone that owns a domain that is seized does not have any recourse.

"Wyden also digs into one specific case, last year's seizure of the dajaz1.com domain name. The site, which blogged about music and hosted some downloads, was claimed to infringe on copyrights, but Wyden notes that press reports later showed that many of the songs on the site had been provided to its operator directly by music industry executives. Despite the stories, ICE made no apparent move to look into the case or restore the site's original domain name. Wyden wants "the Administration's justification for continued seizure of this domain name and its rationale for not providing this domain name operator, and others, due process.”"

I have to admit, I do not really know anything about Sen. Wyden but right now he seems to be the only one noticing this. I've already contacted my reps about it and suggest you do so as well.

http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml