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Originally Posted by Ninjalawyer
There's a number of interesting cases where ICE seized websites, held them for awhile (sometimes as long as a year), and then returned them without any explanation. Several of those sites seemingly had nothing to do with IP infringement or counterfeiting....
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In the cases I know of, a significant number were physical counterfeiters. E.g. on 11/29/2010, they seized 82 websites -- 5 were torrent-related sites, and
77 sold physical counterfeit goods. Later "bustees" included people selling fake Tiffany and fake Chanel goods.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Ninjalawyer
You'll have to take the above with a grain of salt of course, since it's from the site's lawyer, so not exactly unbiased.
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Or heap
My point is not that governments aren't involved
at all. It's that a lot of it is instigated and paid for by private entities; and that government costs include other things like tackling counterfeits and cybercrime.
Further, orgs like the EFF oppose both private and public efforts to clamp down on piracy. Sometimes they have a point; e.g. if due process is not followed, that's a legitimate problem. Other times, it's just a handy argument when the real goal is "we want no enforcement, by anyone, for any reason."