DOJ Launches Internet Fraud Crackdown
The Hill reports:
Attorney General Eric Holder said Monday the government crackdown on websites facilitating copyright infringement was timed to coincide with the holiday shopping season.
The government has shut down 82 websites in the past few days as part of "Operation In Our Sites II," an effort by the Justice and Homeland Security Departments and nine attorneys general offices to debilitate fraudulent Web domains.
"As of today — what is known as 'Cyber Monday' and billed as the busiest online shopping day of the year — anyone attempting to access one of these websites using its domain name will no longer be able to make a purchase," Holder said Monday at a press conference.
Holder said seizure orders for the domain names were obtained from U.S. magistrate judges.
The crackdown targeted websites that sell counterfeit goods, "including sports equipment, shoes, handbags, athletic apparel, sunglasses, and illegal copies of DVDs, music and software," Holder said.
Some website owners were surprised to find their sites shut down during the weekend and replaced by an emblem indicating it had been seized by federal authorities.
Holder said the effort follows a similar crackdown over the summer focusing on first-run movie infringement. He said efforts to protect intellectual property also benefit employment and innovation.
"[Intellectual property] crimes threaten economic opportunities and financial stability," he said. "They destroy jobs."
It comes "as the holiday shopping season gets under way" in part to "remind consumers" they should be cautious about online deals, Holder said.
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