[At-Large] NYTimes : U.S. Shuts Down Web Sites in Piracy Crackdown

[Karl Auerbach]

On 12/02/2010 12:18 PM, Dev Anand Teelucksingh wrote:

> which raises a interesting scenario : many ccTLDs outsource the technical
> running of the ccTLD to third party registry operators, several of which are
> US based. Does the recent ICE seizures imply that
> ICE can issue a seizure warrant against a US based registry operator running
> a ccTLD and redirect a ccTLD to ICE's own servers without notifying the
> ccTLD or the ccTLD registrant?

Why not?  If any part of the mechanism of resolving DNS names is within 
the jurisdictional reach of the enforcement agency one ought to have an 
expectation that the agency will exercise that authority.

As I have described elsewhere there is a huge perception that websites 
and domain names are linked one-to-one.  That is, of course, technical 
nonsense; the truth being that domain names point to collections of 
records that can contain all kinds of stuff.  In that regard, taking 
down a domain name because a record references a website could be akin 
to seizing an entire Maersk container ship because one container on 
board is carrying fake Gucci bags.

We are at real risk here on the net (many say it is not a risk but a 
present-day fact) in which enforcement agencies, going after real 
illicit activities, use simplistic techniques that are far overbroad and 
can cause vast collateral damage to lawful activities.

	--karl--