14 DAY TRIAL // The Department of Homeland Security’s ICE unit has kept itself busy these days launching an operation called “Operation Fake Sweep” in preparation of the Super Bowl that’s about to take place this weekend. According to TorrentFreak, authorities didn’t initially admit that the seizures had anything to do with Super Bowl, but since most of the 307 domains that were seized sold counterfeit NFL products, the others being linked to copyrighted video streams, it was clear that sooner or later the ICE would confirm it.
“While most people are focusing on whether the Patriots or Giants will win on Sunday, we at ICE have our sights on a different type of victory: defeating the international counterfeiting rings that illegally profit off of this event, the NFL, its players and sports fans,” ICE Director John Morton said.
“In sports, players must abide by rules of the game, and in life, individuals must follow the laws of the land. Our message is simple: abiding by intellectual property rights laws is not optional; it’s the law.”
As part of these operations, a 28-year-old man from Comstock Park in Michigan, Yonjo Quiroa, was arrested after being suspected of operating 9 of the 16 streaming-related domains that were seized.
This is not the first time when federal authorities confiscate domain names. The seizure campaign actually started in 2010 and up until now, a number of 669 domains were seized, this being the 10th round.
So far, only one domain owner was able to prove in a court of law that his domain was taken away without plausible motives. At the beginning of December, we’ve learned the story of Dajaz1, the popular music blog, which after being seized for over a year was returned to its owner without many explanations.