Dear All, This is particularly in response to Evan and Dev's emails. According to TorrentFreak Article at http://torrentfreak.com/us-resume-file-sharing-domain-seizures-110201/ " The site is owned by a Spanish company that pays its taxes and has been declared to operate legally in Spain. In addition, the site is not hosted in the US either. The only connection to the US is that the .org domain is maintained <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afilias> by a US company. This indirect connection to the US makes the seizure a dubious action, according to Rojadirecta’s owner. “In our opinion the US authorities are completely despising the Spanish justice system and sovereignty,” Seoane told TorrentFreak... Despite losing the .org domain, Rojadirecta can still be accessed via rojadirecta.com, rojadirecta.es, rojadirecta.me, rojadirecta.in. The latter two domains are interestingly enough maintained by the same company as the .org domain, but Rojadirecta ensures us that they have many other domains that are not controlled by US authorities or companies. The seizure of Rojadirecta shows that commercial interests are high on the agenda of the US Government. Seizing a domain that has been specifically declared to operate legally in other countries does not appear to be an obstacle. In this light, one has to wonder if generic domain names should be controlled exclusively by US companies." So it would appear that even outsourcing functions give ICE authority to shut down the site! Kind regards Cintra On Thu, Feb 3, 2011 at 10:19 PM, Dev Anand Teelucksingh <admin@ttcsweb.org>wrote:
On Thu, Feb 3, 2011 at 6:12 PM, Evan Leibovitch <evan@telly.org> wrote:
So if online casinos are illegal in the US, it should be no surprise that its legal system would take steps to shut down -- to whatever extent that
it
could -- "onlinecasino.com". They'd have no jurisdiction, however on " onlinecasino.co.uk" -- unless that registrant was foolish enough to use a US-based registrar.
If a ccTLD has outsourced its technical function (and several ccTLD do) to a US based registry operator, perhaps the US legal system can shut down a domain under a ccTLD by serving the seizure warrant to the US based registry operator of that ccTLD.
Dev T
I don't agree that At-Large has much of a political role to play, in that no country is going to listen to our complaints about content-related domain seizures. And it's not within our ability -- let alone our expertise -- to monitor and pass judgement on what content is illegal in all sovereign countries.
Perhaps, though, we do have a role to play in educating users and registrants about the choices they make when obtaining a domain, including issues related to the home location of the registry and registrar. (This need-to-know also extends to the location of the would-be registrant's content hosting, but that's way out of ICANN's scope.)
Anything that helps educate the public that there is not a "default" TLD but a set of choices -- each choice with certain benefits and risks -- is both useful and within our ability to provide IMO.
- Evan
On 3 February 2011 16:08, Yassin Mshana <ymshana2003@hotmail.com> wrote:
This is Unspeakable!!! It is commonly knowledge that No one Nation or State should interfere
with
events beyond its boundaries - unfortunately there are no boundaries when it comes to the Internet. Internet-based businesses are lucrative yes! It is time a Government to change/review its Customs/Revenue Collection systems not to take actions that affect the rest of the Internet communities. The GAC should see into this to avoid similar attacks to such a neutral media. Time for a Change is overdue on this.
Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2011 08:44:01 +0100 From: patrick@vande-walle.eu To: at-large@atlarge-lists.icann.org Subject: Re: [At-Large] U.S. seizure of .ORG domain name
I support this, too.
I am not discussing here if the site infringed on US laws. This is apparently the case. However, the decision to take down the domain has consequences well outside the territorial boundaries where US laws apply. It gets even worse when there is one court decision of a sovereign country which says that the site is legal. AFAIK, Spain is not a banana republic. I am convinced that due diligence and fairness where followed by Spanish courts.
I find it grossly impolite, to say the least, to impose one's legal and moral values to the entire world. This is what needs to transpire from our complaint.
Over here, when court decisions order to block web sites, local ISPs are told to either block DNS queries for the domain or null route the IP address. I am not saying this is ideal or even effective. But at least, the impact does not spread beyond the territorial limits of the laws.
Patrick
I would support this.
Btw, the USG has used similar tactics to take down domains that are used for online gaming centred on Antigua in the Caribbean . Online gaming is legal in Antigua but it matters not to US interests.
Antigua has sought relief at the WTO on areas of WTO jurisdiction and she has repeatedly prevailed. Still has not mattered to our Uncle Sam.
Carlton
==============================
Carlton A Samuels Mobile: 876-818-1799 Strategy, Planning, Governance, Assessment & Turnaround =============================
On Wed, Feb 2, 2011 at 8:58 AM, Adam Peake wrote:
> I propose the At Large/ALAC protest the U.S. government's seizure of > domain name Rojadirecta.org. > > Rojadirecta is a popular sports streaming and P2P download site. > Rojadirecta is a legitimate Spanish business. Two Spanish courts have > ruled the site operates legally. > > It seems the U.S. Government Homeland Security's Immigration and > Customs Enforcement (ICE) division used the TLD as the means of > seizure in an attempt to take down the site. If the action was > against the registrar then a registrant would at least have a choice > of jurisdiction. But this action on ORG, and the actions on .COM > names last November essentially means the U.S. government considers > COM, NET and ORG to be nothing more than ccTLDs subject to U.S. whim > (this isn't a legal action, there has been no court case, no due > process.) > > Rojadirecta is now available under other TLDs >
> as well its original IP address > . > > Expect there will be a lot written about this, this article's ok as a > starting point: > < >
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110201/10252412910/homeland-security-seiz...
[4]
> >> > > I hope At Large will issue a statement protesting the use of the TLD > registry as a means of takedown. That it recommends when the NET, ORG > and COM contracts are renegotiated they should move to a jurisdiction > where such unilateral action by a government is not possible. That > the new applicant guidebook require applicants to only locate in > jurisdictions where such unilateral action by a government is not > possible. > > Legitimate businesses should not be subject to the whim of a U.S. agency. > > Adam > _______________________________________________ > At-Large mailing list > At-Large@atlarge-lists.icann.org [5] > https://atlarge-lists.icann.org/mailman/listinfo/at-large [6] > > At-Large Official Site: http://atlarge.icann.org [7]
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Links: ------ [1] http://www.rojadirecta.me [2] http://www.rojadirecta.es [3] http://www.rojadirecta.in [4]
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