US and EU seize domains in counterfeit crackdown
US and European authorities seized 132 alleged counterfeit websites ahead of ‘Cyber Monday’, one of the year’s busiest Christmas shopping days.
Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) joined several national law enforcement agencies and Europol to remove the sites before the November 26 date. The domains included those hosted by US companies, such as .com, and those representing Belgium (.be), Denmark (.dk), France (.fr), Romania (.ro) and the UK (.uk).
ICE seized 101 of the sites, with European officials taking the remaining 31, in the operation dubbed Project Transatlantic. It is the first time since June 2010, when ICE began removing websites (hosted by US companies) suspected of promoting counterfeiting or piracy, that officials have seized non-US-based domains.
The respective governments now control the sites. Visitors typing the domain names into their browsers find a message notifying them of the seizure and educating them about rights infringement.
“This operation is a great example of the tremendous cooperation between ICE and our international partners," said ICE director John Morton. “Our partnerships enable us to go after criminals who are duping unsuspecting shoppers all over the world.”
David Taylor, partner at Hogan Lovells in Paris, said rights owners would welcome the cross-border investigation that ICE has led on this occasion.
“The goal is a laudable one: shutting down criminal activity. The need to take down sites is a global problem, not just an American one. This is highlighted by the fact that many of these European domain names seized allegedly belonged to Chinese nationals.
He added: “There was some quite vigorous criticism last year about ICE’s US operation—given that, for example, the activity at the domain names could be legal in other jurisdictions. This seems less of an issue here with the European ones, as each one is jurisdiction specific, rather than generic. But the due process argument may still be made.”
Including the 31 domains seized by EU officials, ICE, which usually swoops every few months, has now removed 1,630 domains since 2010.
