The Sites That Got Away: Feds Had Also Planned to Seize Pirate Bay and MegaUpload

Over a week ago, Geekosystem reported on how nine domains, including the much adored Ninjavideo and TVShack, were controversially taken down by U.S. authorities at the behest of Disney in the cleverly named “Operation In Our Sites,” citing intellectual property theft. Now we’ve learned that an apparently reliable source told TorrentFreak that the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)–the non-profit, private corporation responsible for managing the web’s domain name system–had in fact handed over the movie streaming domains to the government, as the domain owners were violating their terms and conditions, in part by blocking their WHOIS information.

What’s more, TorrentFreak is reporting that two more sites had been targeted by Homeland Security officials: download giants Pirate Bay and MegaUpload were on the suggested list for domain seizure. P2P technology expert Johan Pouwelse from the Delft University of Technology remarked: “Hollywood lawyers have discovered the soft underbelly of piracy.”

In the case of Pirate Bay, U.S. authorities perhaps decided timing wasn’t convenient, due to the pending criminal process against the site in Swedish court. Additionally, whereas various other sites targeted had made their Whois data anonymous, TPB’s information is valid. In any case, Pirate Bay is dealing with its own worries at the moment, patching gaps following a massive security breach yesterday.

Whether the Hong Kong-based MegaUpload is under any threat of seizure is uncertain. To MU’s credit, they are normally adept at identifying and taking down pirated files that have been uploaded.

Internet users have questioned the diplomatic and legal issues of targeting private websites with servers located off American shores. One poster, wtfgov?, writes: “whether or not these websites follow american copyright laws, the constitution does not grant mr. obama the privillege to seize private property from other countries…”

When pressed for comment, ICANN did not offer TorrentFreak a reply.

(h/t TorrentFreak.)