Posted on 04/14/2011 10:21:35 AM PDT by JerseyHighlander
UPDATE: Lots of coverage of our efforts this week. THE HILL: Groups slam online piracy efforts; TECHDIRT: People Across Political Spectrum Come Out Against COICA Censorship Bill; CONGRESSIONAL QUARTERLY: Online piracy bipartisan domain; POLITICO: Groups blast Leahy piracy bill.
ORIGINAL: Brian McCarthy ran a website, channelsurfing.net, that linked to various sites where you could watch online streams of TV shows and sports networks. A couple months ago, the government seized his domain name and on Friday they arrested him and charged him with criminal copyright infringement -- punishable by five years in prison.
We just obtained a copy of the complaint (below) that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) made against him -- and they don't even allege that he made a copy of anything! Just that he ran what they call a "linking website" which linked to various sites with copyrighted material. Under that sort of thinking, everyone who's sent around a link to a copyrighted YouTube video is a criminal.
This is another shocking overreach by DHS and ICE -- a steamship-era department that's proving once again that it doesn't understand the Internet. We need to push back -- and fast -- before they try to lock up more Americans.
PETITION TO JANET NAPOLITANO, DIRECTOR OF HOMELAND SECURITY, AND JOHN MORTON, DIRECTOR OF IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT: There's nothing wrong or illegal about posting a link to a website. This is another shocking overreach by DHS and ICE: You need to drop the charges against Brian McCarthy right away.
This is worse than the McCain-Feinstein law that was overturned many years ago, and a direct threat to the future of any website out of favor with ideological Federal DHS policies.
Some people have jobs posting links to other websites........will they be arrested too?
Ping
Maybe a lesson for blog pimps who simply copy content from other sources on their own blogs and post it as their own.
Internet user arrested by Homeland Security for linking to other websites.
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Up Next:
Homeland Security Arrests a Blog Pimp at Free Republic.
Clear Case of Excerpting is Evident.
Dude. You stole my thunder (post 5)
I’m thinking lots of other people will think of humblegunner when they read this!
I guess they must have eliminated the country of the tens of millions of illegals and now they’re going after the real criminals.
Thank you G. Bush for creating this Monster. Thank You.
Well, I sure am glad that DHS and ICE have their manpower priorities straight - arresting people for linking to websites. Imagine the incredible numbers of people who could die from that.
The fact that we've created a US Code that includes criminal copyright infringement statutes, just goes to show how out of control the government is.
Sure, I understand the need for copyright and other IP laws. But, these should be civil torts, not criminal prosecutions - except for perhaps in cases that there may be public safety concerns, like counterfeiting medical, aviation other items that could cause people actual physical harm. No one is physically harmed by streaming media, ever.
bttt
The ruling class needs their Gestapo.
The site you linked to looks like a commie pinko site. I could be wrong but I would no sooner link to a socialist site than I would link to stormfront.
I’m actually more offended that DHS is dealing with copyright infractions in the first place. The ludicrousness of charging someone with a crime for linking a website aside.
Ja Wohl! I’m glad that Fatherland Security is protecting us from terrorists like this and that 6 year old in the airport.
Linking is a crime?
Drudge must be a SUPER CRIMINAL!..................
From skimming the document, I think their excuse may be that the videos displayed on the pages of his domain (an embedded stream) even though he didn’t actually host the content. In other words, a bit more than just a hyperlink.
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