150 Website Domains Seized On Cyber Monday

Last year, federal authorities seized 82 Web sites on “Cyber Monday” as part of its Operation In Our Sites program, a law enforcement effort targeting counterfeit and piracy on the Internet; today, on Cyber Monday 2011, the government seized 150 domain names as part of the operation. 

The seizure orders executed today are against domain names of commercial websites allegedly engaged in the illegal sale and distribution of counterfeit goods and copyrighted works. The 150 seized domains are in the custody of the federal government. Visitors to the sites will now find a seizure banner that notifies them that the domain name has been seized by federal authorities and educates them that willful copyright infringement is a federal crime.
 
During this operation, federal law enforcement agents made undercover purchases of a host of products, including professional sports jerseys, golf equipment, DVD sets, footwear, handbags and sunglasses, representing a variety of trademarks from online retailers who were suspected of selling counterfeit products. In most cases, the goods were shipped directly into the United States from suppliers in other countries. If the trademark holders confirmed that the purchased products were counterfeit or otherwise illegal, seizure orders for the domain names of the websites that sold the goods and associated websites were obtained from federal magistrate judges.  
 
Since the operation’s June 2010 launch, law enforcement has seized a total of 350 domain names, and the seizure banner has received more than 77 million individual views.
 
Of the 350 domain names seized, 116 have now been forfeited to the U.S. government. The federal forfeiture process affords individuals who have an interest in the seized domain names a period of time after the “Notice of Seizure” to file a petition with a federal court and additional time after the “Notice of Forfeiture” to contest the forfeiture. If no petitions or claims are filed, the domain names become property of the U.S. government.
 
Additionally, a public service announcement, launched in April 2011, appears on each of the 116 forfeited domain names. This video educates the public about the economic impact of trademark counterfeiting and copyright infringement.