NNSquad - Network Neutrality Squad
[ NNSquad ] Fwd: [E-B] EFF: Government Domain Name Seizures Violate First Amendment
----- Forwarded message from Dave Farber <dfarber@me.com> ----- Date: Tue, 21 Jun 2011 11:47:40 -0400 From: Dave Farber <dfarber@me.com> Subject: [IP] Fwd: [E-B] EFF: Government Domain Name Seizures Violate First Amendment Reply-To: dave@farber.net To: ip <ip@listbox.com> Begin forwarded message: > From: EFF Press <press@eff.org> > Date: June 21, 2011 11:10:54 AM EDT > To: presslist@eff.org > Subject: [E-B] EFF: Government Domain Name Seizures Violate First Amendment > Reply-To: press@eff.org > > Electronic Frontier Foundation Media Release > > For Immediate Release: Tuesday, June 21, 2011 > > Contact: > > Corynne McSherry > Intellectual Property Director > Electronic Frontier Foundation > corynne@eff.org > +1 415 436-9333 x122 > > Matt Zimmerman > Senior Staff Attorney > Electronic Frontier Foundation > mattz@eff.org > +1 415 436-9333 x127 > > Government Domain Name Seizures Violate First Amendment > > EFF Challenges Flawed Anti-Infringement Campaign in Amicus > Brief > > San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) > urged a federal court to return two domain names seized in > the U.S. government's fundamentally flawed > anti-infringement campaign in an amicus brief filed Monday. > > "This misguided intellectual property enforcement effort is > causing serious collateral damage to free speech rights," > said EFF Intellectual Property Director Corynne McSherry. > "These domain seizures should cease unless and until the > government can fix the First Amendment flaws inherent in > the program." > > EFF's brief was filed in support of a petition from Puerto > 80, the Spanish company behind popular sports streaming > sites Rojadirecta.com and Rojadirecta.org, which were both > seized by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) > earlier this year, even though a Spanish court found they > did not violate copyright law. Puerto 80 tried to work > with ICE and other U.S. government authorities to resolve > the matter without court involvement, but its efforts were > unsuccessful. > > ICE began seizing domain names last year as part of > "Operation in Our Sites," a government initiative to crack > down on Internet piracy. ICE has seized 125 domains and > redirects visitors of those sites to a banner notifying > them that the domain name of that website has been seized > by federal authorities. > > "Neither the government nor rightsholders should fear a > copyright enforcement process that complies with the rule > of law," said EFF Senior Staff Attorney Matt Zimmerman. > "Valid claims of copyright infringement can be pursued in a > manner that allows the accused parties to defend > themselves. The unilateral seizure of domain names without > a court ruling -- which obstructs access to all of a > website's content -- is improper and should be strongly > opposed by free speech advocates everywhere." > > The Center for Democracy and Technology and Public > Knowledge joined EFF's amicus brief. Jeffrey Neu and Luc > Ulmet of the law firm Kuzas Neu serve as local counsel. > > For the full amicus brief: > https://www.eff.org/files/filenode/puerto80_v_US/2011-06-20-rojadirecta.pdf > > For more on this case: > https://www.eff.org/cases/puerto-80-v-us > > For this release: > https://www.eff.org/press/archives/2011/06/20 > > About EFF > > The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading civil > liberties organization working to protect rights in the > digital world. Founded in 1990, EFF actively encourages and > challenges industry and government to support free > expression and privacy online. EFF is a member-supported > organization and maintains one of the most linked-to > websites in the world at https://www.eff.org/ > > > > > -end- > > _______________________________________________ > To unsubscribe or manage your email options: > https://mail1.eff.org/mailman/listinfo/presslist ------------------------------------------- ----- End forwarded message -----