WASHINGTON - On one of the year's busiest Internet shopping days, federal
law enforcement announced a crackdown that blocked 82 domain names of
far-flung commercial websites to keep them from peddling counterfeit
merchandise and illegal copies of music and software.
Nearly 100 million people shop on "Cyber Monday," a day when consumers
return to work from the long Thanksgiving weekend. Many buy items online.
Counterfeiters are prowling the back alleys of the Internet, waiting to
unload shoddy presents unlikely to bring any holiday cheer, John Morton,
head of immigration and customs enforcement at the Homeland Security
Department, told a news conference.
Attorney General Eric Holder said federal law enforcement agents got court
orders allowing them to seize the domain names after making undercover
purchases from online retailers and confirming that the items sold were
counterfeit or infringed on copyrights.
The move was applauded by the Motion Picture Association of America and the
Recording Industry Association of America.
Anyone attempting to access one of the websites will find a banner saying
that the domain name has been seized by federal authorities.
The counterfeit goods include sports equipment, shoes, handbags, athletic
apparel and sunglasses. The copyright infringement covers copies of DVDs,
music and software.
Most of the counterfeit goods are produced and shipped from China.
On a trip to Hong Kong and to Beijing last month, Holder told law
enforcement counterparts from China and around the world to do more to fight
these crimes.
Congress is considering giving law enforcement more tools to crack down on
copyright infringement and the sale of counterfeit goods online, but the
proposed legislation has run into some opposition.
Earlier this month, the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approved a
bill that would allow the Justice Department to obtain court orders
identifying sites dedicated to "infringing activity" and require companies
that register Internet domain names to suspend those accounts. And to reach
Web sites registered outside the U.S., the bill also would require Internet
service providers to block their users from accessing those sites and
prohibit payment processors and online advertising networks from doing
business with them.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., has
strong backing from Hollywood, the nation's big record labels and other
industries that depend on strong intellectual property protections. But some
in the technology industry say it could result in Internet censorship by
blocking access to Web sites.
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Associated Press Technology writer Joelle Tessler contributed to this
report.
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