"Setting aside the due process concerns inherent in seizing any website without notice or appropriate recourse for the owner, it appears that the 'raid' has swept up several sites that are hardly in the business of willful copyright infringement," says the EFF.
The EFF gives examples of targets such as OnSmash.com and RapGodfathers.com that they note are sites "dedicated to promoting rap and hiphop, showcasing new artists and helping fans connect and share information about the music they love."
The website owners, and domain name holders, say "they regularly and expeditiously process copyright infringement notices and take down links as appropriate," the EFF notes.
This type of seizure is not unprecedented the EFF notes, but they note they have not seen it happen on such a broad scale before.
The EFF goes on to note "this kind of mass action raises at least three concerns." These concerns are:
- "First, these seizures may be just a short preview of the kind of overreaching enforcement we'll see if the Congress passes the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA).
- "Second, the seizures also show why this kind of enforcement doesn't work; seized sites were available at other domain names within hours.
- "Third, it's hard to believe that this kind of action is the best use of the Department of Homeland Security's resources."
In their posting on this issue on their website, the EFF goes into further. The posting in full is available from:
www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/11/us-government-seizes-82-websites-draconian-future