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Thread: Feds confiscate 'illegal' domain names

  1. #1
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    Feds confiscate 'illegal' domain names

    Feds confiscate 'illegal' domain names

    By Declan McCullagh
    Staff Writer, CNET News.com
    February 26, 2003, 8:10 PM PT

    WASHINGTON--Federal police have adopted a novel crime-fighting tactic: seizing control of domain names for Web sites that allegedly violate the law.

    Attorney General John Ashcroft said Monday that the domain names for several Web sites allegedly set up to sell illegal "drug paraphernalia" would be pointed at servers located at the Drug Enforcement Administration. A federal judge in Pittsburgh granted the U.S. Department of Justice permission to do so until a trial can take place, the government said.

    Wednesday afternoon, the DOJ said it had taken over the iSoNews.com domain, whose owner pleaded guilty to felony copyright crimes under the controversial Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). David Rocci, 22, pleaded guilty in December to using his site to sell "mod" chips that let Microsoft Xbox and Sony PlayStation owners modify their devices so that they could use them to play illegally copied games, or "warez."

    Rocci "attempted to profit by marketing circumvention devices to (the gaming) community knowing they would be used to play pirated games," Michael Chertoff, the assistant attorney general for the DOJ's criminal division, said in a statement. "He thought that there were no risks associated with his actions. He was wrong, and everyone engaged in the warez scene should take note."

    As previously reported, manufacturers such as Sony have waged an international fight against mod chips, with Canadian police targeting an Ottawa man last July for selling mod chips for the PlayStation 2. A Hong Kong video-game retailer, Lik-Sang, has been sued by game console makers Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony.

    But this case appears to have been the first such prosecution in the United States under the DMCA, a 1998 copyright law that generally restricts anyone from circumventing copy protection technologies or distributing software or hardware designed for circumvention purposes. The DMCA says commercial violators "shall be fined not more than $500,000 or imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or both, for the first offense."

    The Justice Department did not release a copy of Rocci's plea agreement, but said that he will be sentenced on March 7 before U.S. District Judge James Cacheris in Alexandria, Va.

    "Rocci used his Web site as the exclusive means to advertise and market the sale of mod chips to individuals in the online warez community," the government said in a statement. "The iSoNews Web site was dedicated to providing information about copyright infringement and piracy, and included pages with news on the illegal warez scene, discussion forums on piracy, and up-to-date listings of all of the latest pirated products that were available. The site had over 100,000 registered users and claimed to receive over 140,000 hits each day."

    Rocci allegedly sold the Enigmah chip, which cost between $45 and $60 apiece. Like other mod chips, the Enigmah defeats security systems in the Xbox, allowing owners to play legally and illegally copied games, run unauthorized software and play games intended for other geographic regions.

    Some hackers have seized on mod chips as a vehicle to run Linux on the Xbox. Advocates argue such legitimate, nonpiracy uses of mod chips disqualify them as "circumvention devices" under the DMCA.

    Visitors to iSoNews.com on Wednesday saw a notice saying: "The domain and Web site were surrendered to U.S. law enforcement pursuant to a federal prosecution and felony plea agreement for conspiracy to violate criminal copyright laws."

    But the Web site is still online and accessible via means other than the domain name. iSoNews.com regulars have resorted to using the site's numeric IP address--66.201.243.170--and are continuing to discuss the case. "Thanks to everyone for your support in this site, we all appreciate it and will continue to do so," one person wrote.

    In October 2000, Sega had threatened iSoNews.com with a cease-and-desist letter, but Jennifer Granick, the attorney representing the site at the time, said Wednesday that no suit had been filed.

    An attorney for Rocci could not be reached Wednesday.

    Marc Rotenberg of the Electronic Privacy Information Center said Monday that redirecting Web visitors to Justice Department sites becomes a kind of "electronic flypaper" that raises novel legal questions.

    The privacy policy on the Justice Department's site permits the DOJ to hand personal information about visitors to the FBI or other law enforcement agencies. It says, "We may take additional steps to identify you based on this information, and we may share this information, including your identity, with other government agencies."

    At least four drug-related Web sites targeted by the Justice Department--PipesForYou.com, ColorChangingGlass.com, 420now.com, and OmniLounge.com--now sport government messages. The text says: "By application of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, the Web site you are attempting to visit has been restrained by the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania."

    Federal law prohibits selling any product that is "primarily intended" for use with illegal drugs, including water pipes, roach clips and small spoons used with cocaine.


    full article at http://news.com.com/2100-1023-986225.html
    I think this has to be rediculous. Well we now know that the muscle of the big corporations seems to be the feds. What's next are all the hacking sites going to be seized? This article really shocked me. I'm not a big warez person. I use p2p file sharing and that's about it. The worst part is

    WASHINGTON--Federal police have adopted a novel crime-fighting tactic: seizing control of domain names for Web sites that allegedly violate the law.
    What's next ? Anyone wanna form a new country together?
    Good Grief

  2. #2
    Deceased x acidreign x's Avatar
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    <sigh> that tears it, i'm moving to canada... all the perks of being a US citizen, without the displeasure of watching it turn into nazi germany. they don't even enforce drug laws much there, unless you reallly piss off the cops, you could get a license to cultivate and carry weed and sell it to american college students. Make a tidy little living that way. lol. I mean, come on, is there really any better place to live than canada? no other country will dick with you because of your pitbull, the fiercest military presence that ever existed (america) you can benefit from trade with the most stable economy in the world, (america) and your kids can become singers, actors, or comedians and make a killing in america, and when the **** hits the fan and world war 3 breaks out, it's BACK HOME TO CANADA. hell's ya, im getting some dough and movin up north, before i'm forced to sew a f*&%ing star to my coat and hurdled onto a train to some death camp cause the government is really startin to piss me off.
    :q :q! :wq :w :w! :wq! :quit :quit! :help help helpquit quit quithelp :quitplease :quitnow :leave :**** ^X^C ^C ^D ^Z ^Q QUITDAMMIT ^[:wq GCS,M);d@;p;c++;l++;u ++ ;e+ ;m++(---) ;s+/+ ;n- ;h* ;f+(--) ;!g ;w+(-) ;t- ;r+(-) ;y+(**)

  3. #3
    AO Decepticon CXGJarrod's Avatar
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    This is crazy! I am with x acidreign x, lets move to Canada...
    N00b> STFU i r teh 1337 (english: You must be mistaken, good sir or madam. I believe myself to be quite a good player. On an unrelated matter, I also apparently enjoy math.)

  4. #4
    Kwiep
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    The netherlands is a nice country to move to to !!! You can come by and have a beer or something.
    I understand the feds want to somehow restrict warezsites to exist, but this isn't the solution... like those people are afraid of just plain 123.456.7.3 adresses, ot dot.tk or any free dynamic hosting subdomain thing. Ow well... as long as they stay away from other countries stuff. I wasn't planning to move to the US of A anyways.
    Double Dutch

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    I believe it was Thomas Jefferson (or Franklin) that said, when helping to create this country, that this form of government should only last around 200 years. Well, 200 years has come and gone and people are getting more and more unhappy with it. It has become corrupt and unjust, much of what they were running from in starting the states in the first place. It is written in the constitution that if our government no longer serves the people, the people have a right to revolt. perhaps that's what is necessary. North vs. South? East vs. West? whatever. a new country might not be a bad idea. All we need is a charismatic leader that couldnt be discreditted by media, governemt, et. al.
    or in the meantime... OOOOO CANADA!!...
    just like water off a duck\'s back... I AM HERE.

    for CMOS help, check out my CMOS tut?

  6. #6
    Deceased x acidreign x's Avatar
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    screw revolt! I aint takin a howitzer to the anus for nothing, i'll settle for getting the hell outta dodge
    :q :q! :wq :w :w! :wq! :quit :quit! :help help helpquit quit quithelp :quitplease :quitnow :leave :**** ^X^C ^C ^D ^Z ^Q QUITDAMMIT ^[:wq GCS,M);d@;p;c++;l++;u ++ ;e+ ;m++(---) ;s+/+ ;n- ;h* ;f+(--) ;!g ;w+(-) ;t- ;r+(-) ;y+(**)

  7. #7
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    Yeah I think Canada would be a good place for us
    Good Grief

  8. #8
    Just remeber if you want to join canada ,you must - 1. be polite 2. dont bring any guns 3 .dont be shooting anyone 4. take at least a center -center left attitude 5. bring long underwear(for some places anyhow) 6. change huhh in to ehh 7. add a u into words like colour flavour 8.learn metric(its easy ,its base 10 ,like fingers and toes) 9. remember we are a cultural mosaic not a melting pot , And that is about all it takes ehh ps. you have to have a legit medical reason to grow pot (not that that stops many people)

  9. #9
    Just a Virtualized Geek MrLinus's Avatar
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    Ya well a little further. What happens in the US happens here. Believe me, if you think down in the US bad, don't expect it to be any better here. Russia I hear has real lax laws on this kind of stuff. South east Asia (Malaysia?) as well!
    Goodbye, Mittens (1992-2008). My pillow will be cold without your purring beside my head
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  10. #10
    Hmmm Canadian beer and even more hockey....I'm driven, who's coming?

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