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Seven domain names taken into custody
The US Department of Justice has a Task Force, and its mission is to fight domestic and international intellectual property (IP) crime. Their latest investigation brought to light the online sale of counterfeit goods, netting $896,000 and taking seven domain names into custody.The warrant for the seizure of the seven domain names was issued by the District of Columbia on April 2012, Ronald C. Machen Jr, US Attorney for the district said, “Seizing the domain names of these unscrupulous operators was one big step, and seizing their ill-gotten proceeds should send them another message that these counterfeit sales will not be tolerated”.The investigation, Operation in our Sites, was originally launched in June 2010 by ICE’s (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) Office of Homeland Security Investigations, and is a federal law enforcement initiative hunting IP pirates and online vendors of fake goods and copyrighted property.
Cyber Monday I
On November 29, 2010, Operation in our Sites executed seizure orders against 24 domain names of websites selling counterfeit merchandise and copyrighted property, such as shoes, handbags, sunglasses, pirated DVDs and music, and sportswear. The ‘sting’ was instigated on Cyber Monday, the Monday following Black Friday. In the US Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving and signals the start of Christmas shopping, Cyber Monday follows and is promoted as the biggest online shopping day of the year. The counterfeit goods, including fake Chanel, Nike and Cartier, were imported from China. One domain name seized, tvshack.cc, was a website acting as a ‘link’ between sites allowing users to obtain illegal copies of films and tv shows, tvshack.cc replaced tvshack.net, this domain name was terminated in June 2010.
Several of the online businesses continued trading, overcoming this technical glitch to their business by using new domain names; fraudsters in China selling fake sportswear and college sports jerseys forfeited their domain names when undercover agents purchased goods and confirmed them to be fake. PayPal Private Ltd was used for payment process with the money then wired to Chinese banks.
Cyber Monday II
To celebrate the ‘biggest online shopping day of the year’ the US Department of Justice struck again, Operation in our Sites cast its net on November 28, 2011, and seized 150 domain names attributed to commercial websites selling spurious merchandise. The feds went undercover and purchased an array of goods with fake trademarks, manufactured abroad and imported to the US, the domain names were terminated.
The fight continues
Operation in our Sites has, to date, terminated 758 domain names of websites dealing in counterfeit goods. The IP Task Force continues to investigate and fight this on-going battle, endeavouring to protect the US against fraudsters who undermine the economic wellbeing of the country. The Task Force is currently working with IPEC (Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator) to improve the protection of intellectual property rights.