U.S. Seizes Domain Names in File-Sharing, Counterfeiting Investigation

While the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act wends its way through the U.S. Senate, the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) unit is intensifying its effort against file-sharing and the sale of counterfeit physical goods — reportedly seizing more than 80 domain names of websites dedicated to such activities late last week. An ICE spokesperson told the New York Times that the court-ordered seizures were part of an ongoing investigation. While commenters on website TorrentFreak.com noted the obscurity of most of the seized domains, the website reported that the list included a “large hip-hop file-sharing links forum” as well as a BitTorrent meta-search engine.