U.S. Government Seizes BitTorrent Search Engine Domain and More

[cavegal]

http://torrentfreak.com/u-s-government-seizes-bittorrent-search-engine-domain-and-more-101126/

Following on the heels of this week’s domain seizure of a large hiphop file-sharing links forum, it’s clear today that the U.S. Government has been very busy. Without any need for COICA, ICE has just seized the domain of a BitTorrent meta-search engine along with those belonging to other music linking sites and several others which appear to be connected to physical counterfeit goods.

~SNIP~

“My domain has been seized without any previous complaint or notice from any court!” the exasperated owner of Torrent-Finder told TorrentFreak this morning.

“I firstly had DNS downtime. While I was contacting GoDaddy I noticed the DNS had changed. Godaddy had no idea what was going on and until now they do not understand the situation and they say it was totally from ICANN,” he explained.

  List at link

[PatriotGame]

Strange since The Pirate Bay is still up. The site resides in Sweden and the three Swedish owners were sent to prison earlier in the year for piracy.

http://thepiratebay.org/

[txradioguy]

Effin Feds are getting way outta control with this shit.

[LC EFA]

Effin Feds are getting way outta control with this shit.

Just be thankful you don't live over here - where the left has just gleefully voted to enact the legislation to re-nationalize the telecommunications network.  They seem to believe the government will deliver them a gigabit internet connection Free Pony in most (upwards of 95%) homes for less than what we pay for a 25000/1500 connection right now.

Totally ignoring the other major piece of the plan which is the "filter" to remove "objectionable" content. Guess who decides what counts as "objectionable" and how much power the voters have to select them. How much say will we have over the filter when the damn government OWNS and operates the notwork.

Not to mention totally ignoring the nasty precedent the legislation sets with regard to seizure of private property (in this case the major telco infrastructure), and the fact that the government quite simply cannot deliver what they're promising for anything like the quoted figures in regards to timeframe OR budget.

[Attero Dominatus]

It used to be that if a copyright holder caught someone distributing their material without permission, they would go through the DCMA. More to the point, not all torrents are pirated movies and games. Now DHS simply seizes whatever it deems to be objectionable.

The same pattern is being played out here as with everything else. First, the government goes after what is controversial and objectionable. Then they will start taking ever more control.

[Attero Dominatus]

Just be thankful you don't live over here - where the left has just gleefully voted to enact the legislation to re-nationalize the telecommunications network.  They seem to believe the government will deliver them a gigabit internet connection Free Pony in most (upwards of 95%) homes for less than what we pay for a 25000/1500 connection right now.

Totally ignoring the other major piece of the plan which is the "filter" to remove "objectionable" content. Guess who decides what counts as "objectionable" and how much power the voters have to select them. How much say will we have over the filter when the damn government OWNS and operates the notwork.

Not to mention totally ignoring the nasty precedent the legislation sets with regard to seizure of private property (in this case the major telco infrastructure), and the fact that the government quite simply cannot deliver what they're promising for anything like the quoted figures in regards to timeframe OR budget.

I read about that. The progressives ultimately want the same censorship that is in China.

[Revolution]

I tried downloading Limewire (the only one I trust nowdays) for this new computer we have, and it came up with the ICE notice. Megaupload, and Rapidshare have also already been confiscated. The ball of government control is rolling slowly right now, but heavy objects pick up speed quickly.

[Chris_]

I try to stay away from file sharing sites.  If I want or need something, I can get it from a reputable online seller like Amazon.  In the case of software, I've found instances of freeware often being better or equal to the pay-for-use stuff (GNS3 and Avast being two examples).  I think the last time I used RapidShare, I needed some IOS images for a bundle of Cisco routers.  I downloaded Ubuntu directly from their website where they do host their own bit torrent.

[ColonialMarine0431]

If Big Brother wants to go after sites, why not Wikileaks? Could it be that BB wants that info released, then use it as a fait accompli to shut down the Net alltogether in the name of "national security"?

Paranoid? Stranger things have happened. At the end of the Weimar era as the Nazis gained power they shut down thousands of newspapers and radio stations in the interest of "National Security" and most Germans, historically one of the most literate, educated and informed people, stood by and let it happen. People are sadly mistaken if they think it could'nt happen again. Only this time it won't happen in the form of book burnings, but it will germanate from insidious ideas like the Fairness Doctrine. 

The day that free speech is curtailed, and tolerated, is the day that the Republic is dead. And the day that we need to take up arms against the government for a second Revolution.

"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty."

-Thomas Jeffreson

[Revolution]

"People shouldn't fear their governments. Governments should fear their people"

That's the first thing I thought of when looking at the above, CM.

[Airwolf]

Limewire was shut down a few weeks ago over "violations of Copyright" issues by a court. This is all bogus no matter how its sliced.

[NHSparky]

Effin Feds are getting way outta control with this shit.

Amazing how the libs are quiet as a mouse with this shit, when they were screaming about how Bush would piss on the Constitution.

BTW--WTF is DHS doing shutting down file-sharing domains?  Shit, they can't even keep the borders closed, but they can throw a block on a website where some 15-year old kids are sharing rap songs?

[true_blood]

I tried downloading Limewire (the only one I trust nowdays) for this new computer we have, and it came up with the ICE notice. Megaupload, and Rapidshare have also already been confiscated. The ball of government control is rolling slowly right now, but heavy objects pick up speed quickly.

You said it Rev. We are seeing the early stages of total gubberment take over.

[cavegal]

You said it Rev. We are seeing the early stages of total gubberment take over.

Yes we are. Today is the Food Moderation Act vote. S-510 that will effect more.

[true_blood]

The imposter in the White House has his foot on the pedal, full throttle.

[Revolution]

Saying is old, but I say we put it in "R" for cripes sake before we drive into those shark infested waters.

[Alpha Mare]

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear the appeal of a San Antonio woman who was sued for illegally downloading music through the Internet when she was a teenager.

Justice Samuel Alito dissented, encouraging the court to hear the appeal that Whitney Harper, now 22, filed in May after the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans sided with five music companies that sued her.
But he was alone in his opinion. Harper must pay $27,750 to the music companies, or $750 for each of the 37 copyrighted songs she accessed through Kazaa and similar file-sharing sites when she was 16.

That court ruled that the copyright notice on compact discs was enough to provide Whitney and others with fair warning of the risks of infringing the record companies' rights. It said Harper could not claim innocent infringement.
Alito wrote in dissent that he would grant review in the case to examine the 5th Circuit's interpretation of the innocent infringement provision.

“(A) person who downloads a digital music file generally does not see any material object bearing a copyright notice, and accordingly, there is force to the argument that (the current law) does not apply,” Alito wrote.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/supreme_court_rejects_appeal_in_sa_music_case_111004889.html?showFullArticle=y