ICANN Confirms That It's Going To Make It Easier For Governments To Seize Domains Around The Globe

from the not-cool,-icann dept

This just gets worse and worse. After pointing out that ICANN was missing a big (and important) opportunity by not speaking out against governments seizing domain names, we were disappointed to see ICANN release a white paper that was more of a how-to manual for governments on seizing domains. Now, Paul Keating points us to the depressing news that ICANN is now publicly saying that it will work more closely with governments around the world to help them seize and censor domains. The writeup is a little vague, but it says that seizing domains for copyright infringement was a "hot topic" at ICANN's recent meeting -- including promises from ICANN that it would work more closely with law enforcement around the globe and the various registrars to help law enforcement be more effective in censoring these websites. This is really unfortunate and once again highlights ICANN's uselessness in protecting the internet. Instead, it appears to be actively working against basic internet principles.
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Filed Under: domain names, domain seizures, legality, seizures
Companies: icann


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  • icon
    Hephaestus (profile), 21 Mar 2012 @ 8:34am

    ICANN is going to create a backlash against them. This is going to have the exact opposite effect governments and corporations expect, they are going lose control over DNS.

    /grabs popcorn

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Sneeje (profile), 21 Mar 2012 @ 9:30am

      Re:

      I'm inclined to agree. This is written about a lot on this site and we all see it, but I am continuously amazed by how blind people are to only the perceived benefits of their actions and not the side-effects or unintended consequences.

      We've read over and over again about how other countries (China, Italy, France, etc.) have problems (pick one) with many of the major US Internet companies. Do we really believe that the only seizures are going to be of comepiratethis.com?

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        GMacGuffin (profile), 21 Mar 2012 @ 9:55am

        Re: Re:

        Hey Techdirtians - comepiratethis.com is available. Somebody should put up a faux-piracy site and see what happens. Somebody with money, that is.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        Hephaestus (profile), 21 Mar 2012 @ 10:36am

        Re: Re:

        This will be used in a very anti-competitive way much like the DMCA take downs are. Once that happens other nations will to take control of their own DNS. There will be a split in the DNS. Then the "Geeks" will get involved, standards will happen, and it will be removed from government control.

        The internet is built on trust relationships, who do you think people and corporations will go to in the end? Gov or geek?

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          Sneeje (profile), 21 Mar 2012 @ 10:50am

          Re: Re: Re:

          Completely agree--ICANN is being very foolish here. They will very much rue placing themselves in the middle of the inevitable disputes. And the minute they are perceived as either not handling them timely or not handling them consistently (or both), the power will be yanked from them and likely handed to someone else which will invariably be worse for the rest of us I imagine.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          orbitalinsertion (profile), 21 Mar 2012 @ 12:10pm

          Re: Re: Re:

          It is more under corporate control than government already. But what would the difference be, exactly?

          Also, there are, and have been since the dawn of the public internet, alternate roots for DNS. Not very successful, but they already exist. Use them if you want to support them.

          Best wishes on seeing an internet controlled by "people".

          link to this | view in chronology ]

          • icon
            Sneeje (profile), 21 Mar 2012 @ 12:31pm

            Re: Re: Re: Re:

            You're focusing too narrowly. The dispute is not entirely, central control versus "people" control. It is, abusive control versus control that is resilient to abuse.

            That is a much more nuanced issue and is what we're trying to get at here. If ICANN established (and adhered to) some principles that acknowledged that the internet exists for the benefit (and not just economic) of all not the few and established methods for equitable (and not just equitable for those with money) dispute resolution, there might less of an issue.

            If the goal is for governments and MNCs to gain control over the internet, then other options WILL arise because there will exist an unmet need (a need that has existed since forever) to communicate, innovate, and share culture freely.

            link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Josh (profile), 21 Mar 2012 @ 9:07am

    So why are they still in charge?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    :Lobo Santo (profile), 21 Mar 2012 @ 9:09am

    Diaspora

    ...and lo, ICANN spoke saying 'thy rights are as shyte, and are worth nothing'
    and there was much weeping and wailing.

    Then, from the people there rose up the private DNS server networks, ignoring the ignoble stupidty of ICANN.
    And there was much rejoicing.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Jay (profile), 21 Mar 2012 @ 9:12am

      Re: Diaspora

      My question... What does this do for DNSSEC if the net splinters?

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 21 Mar 2012 @ 9:38am

        Re: Re: Diaspora

        Not having any laws that make it illegal, like SOPA did, allows people to implement DNSSEC or a version of it anywhere the DNS control goes.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Anonymous Coward, 21 Mar 2012 @ 9:53am

          Re: Re: Re: Diaspora

          And people should have the freedom to choose a different DNS network than the default one.

          This has always been a weakness of the system - and one that has been discussed for many many years. The only saving grace was that no government was trying to break the DNS system enough to force people to find alternatives, and now that's starting to disintegrate.

          If they had just left it alone, nobody would have wanted to choose an alternate network, and now everyone is considering it.

          Who will you trust? The government-censored system?

          It's going to take us back to the "internet dark ages", and the politicians could give a shit less while they try to censor this "wild west". They have no idea what they're unleashing.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

          • identicon
            Prisoner 201, 22 Mar 2012 @ 5:02am

            Re: Re: Re: Re: Diaspora

            "They have no idea what they're unleashing."

            Exactly. They seem hellbent on accelerating the development of user-friendly darknets.

            link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Joe, 19 May 2012 @ 4:41am

        Re: Re: Diaspora

        Makes I2P a lot more attractive? :D

        link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 21 Mar 2012 @ 9:23am

      Re: Diaspora

      It doesn't seem too hard to implement an alternative DNS system--perhaps more distributed and life-like--more like the internet itself. Let's get started now.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 21 Mar 2012 @ 12:15pm

      Re: Diaspora

      "Then, from the people there rose up the private DNS server networks, ignoring the ignoble stupidty of ICANN.
      And there was much rejoicing."

      Then you were the victim of a man in the middle attack, lost all your savings, and wonder why the fuck you ever bothered.

      The cure is way worse than the cause.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        John Fenderson (profile), 21 Mar 2012 @ 1:44pm

        Re: Re: Diaspora

        And how is this risk any greater with a private DNS server than with the public one? The mechanisms involved are the same. The difference is in who controls the names.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Joe, 19 May 2012 @ 4:44am

          Re: Re: Re: Diaspora

          DNSSEC are it's variations/relatives are supposed to solve both problems. No 'fake' altered lookups in one country poisoning lookups in another, and no bank sites being spoofed by someone trying to rip off your bank details.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Kevin Murphy, 21 Mar 2012 @ 9:18am

    Vague, and wrong

    The reporter clearly wasn't listening very carefully.

    Copyright infringement and domain seizures were not hot topics. They were barely mentioned, in fact.

    The main controversy about the Registrar Accreditation Agreement were proposed Whois validation requirements.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 21 Mar 2012 @ 9:28am

      Re: Vague, and wrong

      The fact the were barely mentioned and not hot topics at the meeting does not mean they're not hot topics for everyone else on the internet Kevin...

      And wtf does that last sentence have to do with the price of fish?

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 21 Mar 2012 @ 9:32am

        Re: Re: Vague, and wrong

        Well, following your line of logic, just because you perceive they are important doesn't make them important topics either.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        aldestrawk (profile), 21 Mar 2012 @ 3:59pm

        Re: Re: Vague, and wrong

        Kevin is right. The article mentions copyright infringement and domain seizures but the core of the article is a discussion of a session between the ICANN board and ICANN's GAC which covered 12 recommendations by law enforcement authorities. You can read a summary of the 12 recommendations here:
        http://www.icann.org/en/resources/registrars/raa/raa-negotiations-progress-report-01mar12-en. pdf

        None of them deal directly with domain seizures or copyright. The Computerworld article mentions one of them:

        Some of the 12 recommendations relating to registrar agreements was inclusion of a clause that holds registrars responsible through negligence for registering domains engaging in criminal activity.

        Sure, this is related to enforcing copyright but does not discuss it or how enforcement will happen. The other recommendations deal with the registrars authenticating domain buyers and increased accountability in this whole process. I believe the mention of copyright and domain seizures was a poor journalistic attempt to tie-in what was currently a very public controversy involving ICANN.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Anonymous Coward, 21 Mar 2012 @ 4:13pm

          Re: Re: Re: Vague, and wrong

          Or you know was the statement of the obvious, those things were put there because of lobbying by certain special interests that want by proxy regulate the internet.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Frankz (profile), 21 Mar 2012 @ 9:37am

    ICANN will do things like this, probably because they think they have to if they want to maintain their control. If they don't, that's more ammo for other countries to get the UN to take control.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      aldestrawk (profile), 21 Mar 2012 @ 4:17pm

      Re:

      You are on to something here. I am sure there are a lot of behind the scenes battles. ICANN exists because it was a step the US had to take to mollify international interests and their effort to put the IANA function under international control (e.g. ITU). ICANN has just had their arm publicly and painfully twisted by DOC NTIA and yet the pressure is still building from countries who want to see the IANA function more independent from US control. The root (pun intended) cause here is using DNS as a tool for controlling copyright infringement, speech, and lawlessness in general on the Internet. In a way, ICANN is stuck in the middle and it's role has become that of a whipping boy.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 21 Mar 2012 @ 9:41am

    "we were disappointed"

    Why exactly? You Mike? The IT world expected this, and knew it would happen any day now. No one is disapointed, we knew it all along. ICANN is a private govt funded entity. They reply on it to exist (close to billions of dollars) so it's only logical that they will do their bidding.

    Another argument to decentralize everything, but more importantly remove it from USA control, government or not.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 21 Mar 2012 @ 9:45am

    "This is really unfortunate and once again highlights ICANN's uselessness in protecting the internet."

    Actually, I think it is proof that they are trying to find a balance between "anything goes, we won't look" and the lock down mentality that you seem to fear.

    There are just way too many people out there breaking the law, because they think they are safe or hidden by the internet. That isn't fair for people who follow the law, and operate within it.

    It's not just a question of making copyright holders happy, but also in dealing with the real business issues that face internet startups who may not make it because they cannot compete with illegal sites.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Tim K (profile), 21 Mar 2012 @ 9:53am

      Re:

      I've only heard about startups having problems with companies who want to stop competition with their massive collection of patents, which is perfectly legal. I haven't heard about startups not being able to compete with these pirate sites you speak of, have any references?

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Gwiz (profile), 21 Mar 2012 @ 10:16am

      Re:

      There are just way too many people out there breaking the law, because they think they are safe or hidden by the internet. That isn't fair for people who follow the law, and operate within it.

      Wait. I think your view is a bit distorted because you see the word "internet".

      There are also way too many people speeding on our freeways because they think they won't get caught. That isn't really fair to those who drive the speed limit and have to spend more of their time driving, is it? No one is out there advocating that we limit all the freeway access ramps to "approved" drivers are they?

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 21 Mar 2012 @ 10:30am

        Re: Re:

        Your speeding on the highway doesn't change my life. You are missing the key connections.

        What you are missing is that many startups are missing out because they either cannot sell the products for a reasonable price, or cannot extract enough value from their presentation / distribution to make it work out. They cannot do it because they are specifically competing with the same product being given away for free.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Anonymous Coward, 21 Mar 2012 @ 10:35am

          Re: Re: Re:

          I'd rather have a product that I paid for and feel good about instead of free. I prefer getting my stuff online.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          Gwiz (profile), 21 Mar 2012 @ 10:44am

          Re: Re: Re:

          What you are missing is that many startups are missing out because they either cannot sell the products for a reasonable price, or cannot extract enough value from their presentation / distribution to make it work out. They cannot do it because they are specifically competing with the same product being given away for free.

          Are you new to this site? One can absolutely compete with free.

          If a startup relies on an artificial monopoly in order to be successful, then I view that as a poor business model to begin with. I certainly wouldn't invest in them.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

          • identicon
            Anonymous Coward, 21 Mar 2012 @ 12:17pm

            Re: Re: Re: Re:

            Oh, don't point at a Techdirt opinion piece and expect me not to rip you a new eye hole. Come off it.

            You don't compete with free. You go find another business that can't be ripped off as easily, and call it even.

            That's why musicians are playing mini-putt for a living, because clearly being a musician is useless.

            link to this | view in chronology ]

          • identicon
            Anonymous Coward, 21 Mar 2012 @ 12:18pm

            Re: Re: Re: Re:

            "If a startup relies on an artificial monopoly in order to be successful, then I view that as a poor business model to begin with. I certainly wouldn't invest in them."

            BULLSHIT STRAWMAN!

            Nobody wants a monopoly - just nobody wants to compete with their own product given away for free by someone who isn't paying for it to start with. That's not a question of monopoly, that's a question of right and wrong.

            You are incredible dense if you cannot see the difference.

            link to this | view in chronology ]

            • identicon
              Anonymous Coward, 21 Mar 2012 @ 12:39pm

              Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

              Says the incredibly dense person that doesn't actually understand what "strawman" means.

              If you don't want a monopoly, then forgo copyright and patent protection. If you don't believe those are monopolies, then I guess the whole part about them being an "exclusive legal right" is lost on you.

              Competing on price is a loser's bet, unless you can do something no one else can. Every business school, business book, economics book, etc. will tell you that.

              "...nobody wants to..."
              Nobody wants to really work for a living either, yet that is the fate of the 99%, sorry. Just because you create, does not mean you get paid--you have to offer a reason to buy that your competitors do not.

              link to this | view in chronology ]

            • identicon
              Anonymous Coward, 21 Mar 2012 @ 12:40pm

              Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

              Wanting should have nothing to do with anything a granted monopoly is a horrible thing and everybody knows that, now why should any business get a monopoly for anything?

              They shouldn't, the lack of a granted monopoly didn't stop McDonalds from becoming the 4th largest employer in the world, it didn't stop million dollar open source companies from appearing either, it also didn't stop the fashion industry, so we all just know you are full of shit.

              link to this | view in chronology ]

            • icon
              Gwiz (profile), 21 Mar 2012 @ 12:55pm

              Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

              Nobody wants a monopoly...

              Copyright IS an artificial monopoly.


              ...just nobody wants to compete with their own product given away for free by someone who isn't paying for it to start with.

              Then don't compete with it. Use the non-scarce as a loss leader to sell the scarce. Look, you can spend all your time and energy trying to fight illegal copying, but it isn't going to go away - just about everyone has a digital copying machine in their pocket or purse nowadays. Thirty years of escalating copyright laws haven't even dented the surface of piracy.


              That's not a question of monopoly, that's a question of right and wrong.

              You are somewhat right. There's no question that copyright is a government enforced monopoly. As for the rest of that sentence, you are talking morals and I don't argue morals because they are personal and subjective. What I may think is immoral, you might not and vice versa.

              link to this | view in chronology ]

          • identicon
            Anonymous Coward, 21 Mar 2012 @ 8:25pm

            Re: Re: Re: Re:

            right, break out the tip jar.

            link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          DigitalDao (profile), 21 Mar 2012 @ 11:15am

          Re: Re: Re:

          "What you are missing is that many startups are missing out because they either cannot sell the products for a reasonable price, or cannot extract enough value from their presentation / distribution to make it work out. They cannot do it because they are specifically competing with the same product being given away for free."

          1) What startups are you talking about? Do you mean hypothetical startups?

          2) If a startup is failing because because it's trying to sell something that its prospective customers can already get for free the problem is not that people can get it for free.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Ron, 21 Mar 2012 @ 11:22am

          Re: Re: Re:

          So... how did Itunes do it? There was more piracy back when they started. Are they just smarter than the rest of you?

          link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Anonymous Coward, 21 Mar 2012 @ 12:03pm

          Re: Re: Re:

          Like Red Hat you mean?

          link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Anonymous Coward, 21 Mar 2012 @ 12:04pm

          Re: Re: Re:

          If that is true why open source keeps expanding, shouldn't it be shrinking?

          In an enviroment where everybody can freely copy, distribute, modify and sell what others do should not promote any growth according to you but that is not what happens is it?

          link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          Gwiz (profile), 21 Mar 2012 @ 12:06pm

          Re: Re: Re:

          Your speeding on the highway doesn't change my life.

          Heh. Just noticed that little gem while rereading this thread.

          Someone infringing on somebody else's copyright doesn't change my life either, so I'm not sure what your point is.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

          • icon
            Keii (profile), 21 Mar 2012 @ 1:38pm

            Re: Re: Re: Re:

            Speeding on the highway most certainly changes my life when that same person further up the road decides he doesn't want to yield to another driver, causes an accident and everyone behind him for miles and hours are stuck not going anywhere fast.

            link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          John Fenderson (profile), 21 Mar 2012 @ 2:06pm

          Re: Re: Re:

          Your speeding on the highway doesn't change my life.


          It certainly does if the speeder loses control because he's going too fast for the road and smashes into your car killing you.

          Last I checked, domain names can't kill.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 21 Mar 2012 @ 10:32am

        Re: Re:

        Bad argument. We do limit freeway access ramps to approved drivers. They're the people with drivers licenses. Please don't give anyone the idea that ANYONE advocates internet licenses.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          Gwiz (profile), 21 Mar 2012 @ 10:35am

          Re: Re: Re:

          Bad argument. We do limit freeway access ramps to approved drivers. They're the people with drivers licenses. Please don't give anyone the idea that ANYONE advocates internet licenses.

          Ok. Fair enough. Perhaps I should have worded it as "non-speeders" instead of "approved".

          link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          Sneeje (profile), 21 Mar 2012 @ 10:37am

          Re: Re: Re:

          Of course completely ignoring two additional facts: that doesn't prevent illegal behavior and you don't get your privilege revoked without due process.

          And if you've ever spent time in a traffic court, you would know that SIGNIFICANT due process (many, many violations) occurs before revocation.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

          • identicon
            Anonymous Coward, 22 Mar 2012 @ 6:34am

            Re: Re: Re: Re:

            Of course completely ignoring two additional facts: that doesn't prevent illegal behavior and you don't get your privilege revoked without due process.


            Don't know why you believe that you are entitled to "due process" within TOS. If you pay your credit card late they add a penalty, jack your rate and even lower your available credit.

            link to this | view in chronology ]

            • icon
              Sneeje (profile), 22 Mar 2012 @ 6:59am

              Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

              Ummm... where does the request come from originally? Oh yeah, the government. Guess you forgot that.

              link to this | view in chronology ]

              • identicon
                Anonymous Coward, 22 Mar 2012 @ 2:01pm

                Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

                ICANN is not the government. Recall the government asked Firefox to remove its MAFIIAFire work around and was rebuffed.

                link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      John Fenderson (profile), 21 Mar 2012 @ 1:50pm

      Re:

      There are just way too many people out there breaking the law, because they think they are safe or hidden by the internet.


      Maybe so, maybe not -- but this action won't affect that at all. People can, and will, be just as "safe" and "hidden" as they are now.

      It's not just a question of making copyright holders happy, but also in dealing with the real business issues that face internet startups who may not make it because they cannot compete with illegal sites.


      That's not just wrong, but backwards. It decreases the integrity of DNS, and makes it easier for competitors harm startups by causing them to lose their domain names.

      At the same time, it won't significantly impact piracy. There is no upside to this for startups. The only upside is for governments and major corporate interests.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 21 Mar 2012 @ 10:28am

    Cool! Another name to throw into the lawsuits! Lawyers will have fun with this one. Sueem and screwem Inc will make tons of money. Harrrrr!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Anthem1 (profile), 21 Mar 2012 @ 11:05am

    Curious timing. First the NTIA announces the the RFP rebid (see previous techdirt post on 3/14) and then we here of ICANN working closer with governments. interesting

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Adam Bell (profile), 21 Mar 2012 @ 11:33am

    Alternate DNS Not Likely

    A dark net or alternate DNS system could be stymied pretty fast by simply enacting a law saying that every ISP filter out all but DNS requests made to their own servers.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Gwiz (profile), 21 Mar 2012 @ 11:57am

      Re: Alternate DNS Not Likely

      A dark net or alternate DNS system could be stymied pretty fast by simply enacting a law saying that every ISP filter out all but DNS requests made to their own servers.

      They would have to outlaw VPN's first. And that won't happen anytime soon since so many businesses and government entities rely on them for secure encrypted communication.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 21 Mar 2012 @ 8:27pm

        Re: Re: Alternate DNS Not Likely

        What percentage of current infringers use VPN?

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Yoshord, 22 Mar 2012 @ 2:07pm

          Re: Re: Re: Alternate DNS Not Likely

          I'm sure that percent could get really high really quickly if it had to.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 21 Mar 2012 @ 12:08pm

      Re: Alternate DNS Not Likely

      ...or people could just do what I2P does, it has its on DNS system inside their own network that runs on top of the normal internet :)

      Overlays are cheap, we can build them by the thousands.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      John Fenderson (profile), 21 Mar 2012 @ 1:53pm

      Re: Alternate DNS Not Likely

      A dark net or alternate DNS system could be stymied pretty fast by simply enacting a law saying that every ISP filter out all but DNS requests made to their own servers.


      Which would just cause the alternative DNS to use a nonstandard protocol.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Overcast (profile), 21 Mar 2012 @ 11:57am

    A dark net or alternate DNS system could be stymied pretty fast by simply enacting a law saying that every ISP filter out all but DNS requests made to their own servers.

    But could DNS be considered 'free speech'? It should be.

    Something like that would kill a legit service like OpenDNS that many people use to filter out content. I use OpenDNS to keep my kids and their friends off of objectionable sites - including many torrent sites - how would that help the industry?

    Who can define why I may use an OpenDNS type of system - perhaps it's for education, work, or research?

    What if someone copy wrote/trademarked their DNS system - then we start really opening up the Pandora's box of questions.

    Or maybe they would call it something other than DNS - then that law wouldn't apply.

    Or perhaps it could all be tunneled through SSL and the ISP wouldn't even really know what the data contains.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 21 Mar 2012 @ 12:21pm

      Re:

      "But could DNS be considered 'free speech'? "

      Nope. You are still free to enter the IP address of what you want, or to use other means to reach the destination site by doing DNS locally on your own machine. That is your choice. Your free speech rights are NOT limited because your ISP uses a mandated DNS, any more than your free speech rights are limited because TV stations can only broadcast on certain frequencies. It's a rule of the road, nothing more.

      You can come up with 1000 ways to get around it, but each one becomes more and more complicated, more and more prone to failure, and most importantly, more and more prone to man in the middle attacks or other mischief. You are a fool if you want to step out of the current DNS system to protect your right to rip off movies and music.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 21 Mar 2012 @ 12:34pm

        Re: Re:

        Translation of your post:

        Rawr, rawr, get off my lawn. I don't understand this internetz thingy, rawr, rawr.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 21 Mar 2012 @ 1:16pm

        Re: Re:

        You are a fool if you believe centralized corrupted USA control is the way to go.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        John Fenderson (profile), 21 Mar 2012 @ 1:56pm

        Re: Re:

        You are a fool if you want to step out of the current DNS system to protect your right to rip off movies and music.


        But am I a fool for stepping out of the current DNS to avoid other censorship? Because that's what I would do. I don't pirate, but I certainly will route around any of these blacklists and will help others to do the same.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    V (profile), 21 Mar 2012 @ 1:15pm

    "Your speeding on the highway doesn't change my life. You are missing the key connections.

    What you are missing is that many startups are missing out because they either cannot sell the products for a reasonable price, or cannot extract enough value from their presentation / distribution to make it work out. They cannot do it because they are specifically competing with the same product being given away for free."

    I love how people who know nothing and do nothing try to comment about things they know nothing about by reciting Big Media talking points.

    I am an author. I sell books. I also sell software/phone apps. I also sell CD's/DVD's.

    I have no problem competing against free. In fact, I never both to check to see if my products are pirated... I don't care.

    If someone pirates my books, CDs, apps, etc... that person has a much better chance to become a customer of my other products.

    And if not, big deal... I'm always creating new streams of revenue.

    I DON'T make one thing and then expect to sit back and reap the rewards for the rest of my unnatural life.

    None of the great artists throughout history did. Did Mozart stop after his first symphony and expect to live on it for the rest of his life? Bach? Van Gogh? Shakespeare? Mark Twain? Robert Frost?

    No, all great artists have one thing in common. They kept creating.

    Coincidentally... so do I.

    If you make something people find value in, they will buy it. Will some people pirate it? Sure... but either 1) They will become customers because they like it, or 2) They really wouldn't have been customers anyway.

    Piracy is the excuse of men with weak wills, weak imaginations, weak drive or all of the above.

    And that's from someone who KNOWS... because I DO it. Not because I'm reading some Big Corp's talking points.

    There are and always will be opportunities for intelligent, motivated people to make money.

    Anyone who tells you differently is selling misery.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 21 Mar 2012 @ 2:57pm

    So ICANN just did an end run around congress and enacted SOPA/PIPA tactics anyway! What's with this bs of if you don't pass the law we'll just do it anyway mentality present in govt these days? It's time to hold some people accountable.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    aldestrawk (profile), 21 Mar 2012 @ 5:24pm

    Computerworld article is misleading

    The Computerworld article this story referenced is a bit misleading. Domain seizure and copyright infringement were not directly discussed. The open session at ICANN's recent board meeting was between the ICANN board and ICANN's Government Advisory Committee (GAC). Some 12 recommendations, that came from law enforcement authorities were discussed. I list them below.

    http://www.icann.org/en/resources/registrars/raa/raa-negotiations-progress-report-01mar12- en.pdf

    LEA REQUEST 1:
    (a)If ICANN creates a Privacy/Proxy Accreditation Service, Registrars will accept proxy/privacy registrations only from accredited providers;
    (b) “Registrants using privacy/proxy registration services will have authentic Whois information immediately published by Registrar when registrant is found to be violating terms of service”

    LEA REQUEST 2:
    To RAA paragraph 5.3.2.1, language should be added to the effect “or knowingly and/or through gross negligence permit criminal activity in the registration of domain names or provision of domain name WHOIS information…”

    LEA REQUEST 3:
    All Accredited Registrars must submit to ICANN accurate and verifiable contact details of their main operational and physical office location, including country, phone number (with international prefix), street address, city, and region, to be publicly disclosed in ICANN web directory. Address must also be posted clearly on the Registrar's main website. Post Office boxes, incorporation addresses, mail-­‐drop, and mail-­‐forwarding locations will not be acceptable. In addition, Registrar must submit URL and location of Port 43 WHOIS server

    LEA REQUEST 4:
    Registrars must publicly display of the name of CEO, President, and/or other responsible officer(s).

    LEA REQUEST 5:
    Registrars with multiple accreditations must disclose and publicly display on their website parent ownership or corporate relationship, i.e., identify controlling interests.

    LEA REQUEST 6:
    Registrar will notify ICANN immediately of the following: a. Any and all changes to a Registrar’s location(s), office(s);
    b. Changes to presiding officer(s);
    c.Change in controlling ownership;
    d. Any criminal convictions, and any civil convictions causal or related to criminal activity. Registrar will concurrently update their website upon notifying ICANN of (a)–(c) above.

    LEA REQUEST 7:
    Registrar should be legal entity within the country of operation, and should provide ICANN with official certification of business registration or license.

    LEA REQUEST 8:
    Reseller Accountability and disclosure obligations.

    LEA REQUEST 9:
    Registrar collection and maintenance of data on the persons initiating requests for registration, as well as source IP addresses and financial transaction information.

    LEA REQUEST 10:
    Validation of Whois data upon receipt from registrant

    LEA REQUEST 11:
    Registrar creation of an abuse point of contact, and provision of a well-­‐defined, auditable way to track complaints.

    LEA REQUEST 12:
    ICANN should require Registrars to have a Service Level Agreement for their Port 43 servers.

    There was agreement in principle to every one of these recommendations except for request #9. In general, this deals with law enforcements ability to find and contact individual domain owners. It eliminates the ability to own a domain anonymously, that is anonymous from law enforcement. This could be a free speech issue. China has restricted registrars within China from allowing anonymous domain ownership. The other issue is making registrars liable for permitting criminal activity in the registration of domain names. It is not clear to me yet if this covers criminal activity by the domain owner in general related to using the domain. These are important issues but do not directly deal with domain seizure or copyright enforcement.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 21 Mar 2012 @ 8:33pm

      Re: Computerworld article is misleading

      Kaaaaaachiiiiiiing............

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 21 Mar 2012 @ 9:23pm

    These illuminati will never learn! Just leave .com .net .org .us domains..

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anton ROSS, 22 Mar 2012 @ 5:42am

    So i guess this is not really funny to me at all

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    jsf (profile), 22 Mar 2012 @ 7:01am

    This kind of thing is nothing new really when it comes to ICANN. There have been many concerns about how they operate since the day ICANN was established. I remember many articles and editorials in the late 90's about the board member's were selected, the lack of transparency in their operations, and the fact that many of their policies really only benefited large business.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 22 Mar 2012 @ 2:51pm

    The piracy debate is a waste of time and eventually will be stopped using deep packet inspection, fines and the simple fact that you cannot trust warez or even some pdf's. One of the biggest problems of the whole "piracy debate" is the inability of piracy advocates to honestly discuss the problems that piracy has caused creating an environment that leads people to resort to extreme measures such as DPI and fines. Piracy has also created an environment where "free" software is heavily embedded with tracking code that harvests personal information and sold for much more then most people realize. Selling software is no longer necessary because tracking is where the money is and "most people will probably just pirate the software anyway". The Internet will be better if piracy and tracking are controlled and kept at a minimum instead of the way they both exist today. Keep in mind that Open Source software is completely different then pirated pay-software and the huge market for pirated warez only reinforce the idea that pay-software still has real value. Open Source software also has value however its value compared to pay-software is a completely different discussion.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Joe, 19 May 2012 @ 4:56am

      Re:

      You're new to this whole Internet thing, aren't you? Not to be insulting, but there's some rather easy ways to get around even the 'magical silver bullet DPI' if you don't want to be spied upon, yet alone do anything illegal. (Although some want to make privacy itself, illegal) I2P, Freenet, and so on, all have to be blocked 100% or not at all. It's "all or nothing" in other words. It's easy to get ahold of a list of user's IP addresses and block them all from being reached by your customers, but then you've blocked all the non-infringing traffic as well. Some places have already used the sledgehammer (well more, atom bomb) tactic of blocking/throttling SSL and other encrypted traffic to the point of uselessness for online banking. We're talking speeds less than 1KB/second, packets or entire sessions randomly dropping, altering unencrypted connections to the same IP address, faking TCP "resets", and so on. DPI was supposed to let them keep doing that but not block the banking sites. :/

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Jim Trengrove, 23 Mar 2012 @ 4:04pm

    ICANN's role

    There’s an important point that needs to be restated here concerning ICANN’s role in domain name seizures - it doesn’t have a role, and that’s by design. ICANN exists to coordinate the domain name system and its technical underpinnings. It doesn’t decide issues of content. ICANN won’t enforce nor prevent a site seizure, nor could it. Those decisions are made by law enforcement and the governments they represent. If you don’t like the laws your government is enforcing, work inside its legal framework to change them.

    And you can speak out within ICANN as well. ICANN frequently opens public forums online for transparent discussions about all issues affecting the Internet. And the public forum at our international meetings invites anyone (you have to register to attend, but it’s free) to comment on anything internet-related. If you can’t attend in person, do so remotely. You can submit your comment online. Keep it within the boundaries of civility and we’ll read out it in real time and give members of ICANN’s Board a chance to respond. Our next meeting is in Prague in June, so show up – one way or another.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    RPX999 (profile), 26 May 2012 @ 11:03pm

    "Censoring" and "Websites" shouldn't be in the same sentence...

    link to this | view in chronology ]


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