EU, US uncover 132 counterfeit websites
The sites were seized during so-called “Cyber Monday”
During the "Cyber Monday" wesites offer big sales and promotions
US federal authorities and their European counterparts seized 132 websites for allegedly sellingfalse merchandise in a post-Thanksgiving crackdown, according to an announcement by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on 26 November.
This was the third time that the US federal government launched a this kind of operation on"Cyber Monday", which is the Monday following the Thanksgiving Day and an online shopping day with big sales and promotions before Christmas season.
For the first time, American authorities said they had partnered with EU nations to conduct the same crackdown overseas, which resulted in the confiscation of 101 US websites and 31 Europeans and more actions are expected.
In collaboration with authorities from Britain, Belgium, Denmark, France, Romania and the European Police Office (EUROPOL), ICE seized sites with top-level domains ending in .eu, .be, .dk, .fr, .ro and .uk.
During the operation, federal law enforcement officers uncover sites selling a wide range of illegally copied products, including Nike, Tiffany, Armani, Guess, Burberry, Chanel, Lacoste,McAfee and Adobe.
"These websites were stealing from legitimate websites and copyright holders and the people who make these products”, said ICE Director John Morton and added that the operation was "a great example of the tremendous cooperation between ICE and our international partners.”
Besides, according to Morton, online falsification is also a problem for industries in other parts of the world, such as Asia, and is affecting people that are losing their jobs and millions of taxes are not being paid.
The seized domains are now in the custody of the governments, which have placed banners notifying visitors: "This domain name has been seized by ICE - Homeland Security Investigations pursuant to a seizure warrant issued by a United States District Court."
Europol Director, Rob Wainwright, stated that the counterfeiting "is not a harmless and victimless crime. It can cause serious health and safety risks and it undermines our economy."
US officials have been using this procedure since 2010 and, according to ICE, almost 1,600sites were identified as false. Of those, 684 have now been confiscated by the US government and they are seeking to also seize $175,000 in PayPal accounts utilized by the infringing websites.
Under the forfeiture process, individuals interested in seized domain names can contest the action in federal court. However, if no claim is filed, the domain names will become property of the government.
Rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, consider these anti-counterfeiting operations unconstitutional and that they are taking place without due process.
"If a website's domain is seized, it needs to be given meaningful due process that comports with the US constitution and US law," said a letter sent by three members of Congress to federal officials. It continued: "To do otherwise risks unjustly suppressing lawful free speech and devastating legitimate businesses." NEW EUROPE ON LINE
No comments:
Post a Comment