James Delahunty
4 Dec 2011 11:41
ICE targets Korean download portals.
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has seized yet more domain names, redirecting users to a notice that the domain has been seized for copyright infringement. The movie portals served a Korean audience, and so ICE has added a Korean translation to its notice.
The domains reported seized are: 007disk.com, 007disk.net, 82movie.com, 82movie.net, 82us.com, bzserv.info, itvwmg.com, ktvwmg.com ,wmgitv.com, wmgus.com, wmgus.net.
The domain seizure was authorized by a US District Court, and now all 11 domain names are in the custody of the federal government. Domain seizures target websites found to be dedicated to copyright infringement activity, and sites selling counterfeit goods.
The domains in question, while operating in Korea, are all connected to World Multimedia Group, Inc., a Seattle-based company. Some of the sites seized offered access to downloads for a small fee.
Over 350 domain names have now been seized as part of the "Operation In Our Sites" actions against online piracy hubs and knock-off sellers.
The practice of DNS blocking has come under scrutiny lately for being ineffective and setting a dangerous precedent. You can find some information on getting around such blocks here.