back to article Canadian operator EasyDNS stands firm against London cops

EasyDNS was the just the first of a number of global DNS operators who will be invited by a London IP crime unit to make one of their customer's domains, er, disappear. But the Canadian operator is standing firm. The City Police's new Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) is issuing takedown requests, not orders. It can ask …

COMMENTS

This topic is closed for new posts.
  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Intellectual property crime is an serious offence that is costing the UK economy hundreds of millions of pounds each year.

    1. Keep Refrigerated

      Intellectual property distribution is an serious civil infringement that is costing the UK economy hundreds of millions of pounds each year.

      1. btrower

        Intellectual property law is a dangerous infringement of civil liberties that is costing the citizens of the UK more of their precious freedom each year.

      2. rh587

        Intellectual property distribution is an serious civil infringement that is costing earning the UK economy legal industry hundreds of millions of pounds each year.

      3. Vic
        Devil

        > Intellectual property distribution is a civil infringement

        Not any more. Section 107 of the Act criminalises such distribution in a commercial context.

        Shit piece of law which badly needs repealing. Like that's gonna happen :-(

        Vic.

    2. HollyHopDrive

      Even if it does cost media companies millions (which it probably doesn't - I've ranted before about a pirated copy is not necessarily a lost sale if they wouldn't have bought it anyway) let's examine the tax behaviour of these big companies and see if they've used the Starbucks route of tax avoidance to steal millions from the UK tax coffers. - yet they still use the (taxpayers) paid for old bill to do their dirty work.

      Nuff said.

      1. Vimes

        A little off topic, but what happened to the little 'rate this article' thing that used to be at the bottom of each story? Did certain authors complain about the ratings they were getting?

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          "what happened to the little 'rate this article' thing that used to be at the bottom of each story?"

          I don't know about that, but I do remember that a week or three ago someone commented about the ridiculousness in 2009 of having to click thru to a separate page to upvote or downvote something.

          It could just have been coincidence of course.

  2. Ted Treen
    Thumb Up

    Good for EasyDNS

    I am a believer in law & order - who in their right mind wouldn't be?

    However, I applaud the stand taken by EasyDNS in that when told by Mr Plod to bend over, their response is to remind the authorities that if the police wish to enforce the law, the police must abide by the law, and a company is only obliged to comply with a police request when that request is lawful, backed by the legal system and not because it is the whim or fancy - no matter how justifiable - of an individual officer or group.

    Justice must itself be above suspicion, open and transparent - although I would concur with those who might say we're not quite there yet.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Good for EasyDNS

      if the police wish to enforce the law, the police must abide by the law

      You're right, because it has another effect if due process is not followed: an innocent organisation may find itself cut off from UK sales on the say-so of an uncontrolled entity. That could get interesting, because that hits international trade agreements and all sorts of diplomatic and trading agreements stuff could start flying.

      Tragic, it really is tragic.

  3. Gordon Pryra

    Seems the cops who chase the torrents have more budget than the cops who chase the online paedos

    1. Gordon 10

      yea funny that. If I gave the plod money in return for services I'd be arrested for bribery, but if organisations that are known for exhibiting cartel dare I say mafia-like behaviour do it - its ok.

  4. ColonelClaw
    Thumb Up

    TYVM

    Can I just take this opportunity to thank the London Police? Without them bringing this torrent site to my attention, I may not have found it. Thanks guys!

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: TYVM

      I must say, there's no publicity like bad (free) publicity!

      ...

      sorry, there's better: blocking those unspeakable pond-terrorists in the UK would ensure even better publicity.

    2. Ted Treen
      Angel

      Re: TYVM

      Nice one:- reminding Mr Plod of the law.

      No, the other law:- "The Law of Unintended Consequences"..

  5. Annihilator
    Alert

    Few things..

    1) It's a UK police force trying to get a Canadian company to do something - be interested to see what sort of "court order" would be effective for that

    2) The redirect page would have said they were being "investigated", not found guilty of it. This is reason enough to make them disappear off the web?

    3) Presumably the UK were trying to block it globally in this instance? Seems pretty far out of their juristiction...

    What strange times we live in.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Few things..

      2) The redirect page would have said they were being "investigated", not found guilty of it. This is reason enough to make them disappear off the web?

      I can see some "libel + material damages" cases heading this way if they persist in this sort of folly. As a matter of fact, given the heavy handed not not terrible well checked approach this stupidity is probably open to an engineered violation.

    2. A Non e-mouse Silver badge

      Re: Few things..

      It's a UK police force trying to get a Canadian company to do something about a company based in Singapore.

  6. Trollslayer
    Thumb Down

    Above the law?

    Basically that police unit threaten people rather than follow established international procedures such as those for ICANN.

    Perhaps they should learn how the internet works.

    Oh, I notice they are endorsed by big business who are not squeaky clean.

  7. Alexander Hanff 1

    FACT talking bollocks

    FACT are talking complete bollocks. When I got sued by the MPAA for DVDR-CORE I sent them a very thorough and long business plan to make the site "legit" and pay the industry their dues - they flat out refused - they have zero interest in allowing torrent sites to go legit.

    1. David Dawson

      Re: FACT talking bollocks

      What ever happened in the case?

      1. Alexander Hanff 1

        Re: FACT talking bollocks

        Nothing, they lied to the judge in the US court saying I was living in the US - the judge passed a summary judgment on that basis for I think about 45k USD which could not be served (because I lived in the UK not the US).

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    And so it begins...

    ...it started with the Yanks, and now, it's little lapdog (us) want to join in, being part of World Police inc.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: And so it begins...

      You can have Punch and Judy star in "Team Brittania: World Plods".

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: And so it begins...

      America, fark yeah! Comin' again to save the motherfarking day, yeah! America, fark yeah! Freedom is the only way, yeah! Terrorists, your game is through, 'cause now you have to answer to America, fark yeah! So lick my butt and suck on my balls! America, fark yeah! What you gonna do when we come for you now!

      1. BrownishMonstr

        Re: And so it begins...

        So.... when is Team America 2: World Wide Web Police coming out?

  9. DutchP

    just out of curiosity

    How is it that there is such a thing as "intellectual property crime" in the first place? Isn't this - by definition - more of an economic dispute between two parties and should hence be covered by civil law?

    Sounds like the judicial systems are being abused to do the corporations' dirty work here.

    Yeah, now's the time to get cynical and all, but, seriously, how have we let this happen?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: just out of curiosity

      > more of an economic dispute between two parties and should hence be covered by civil law?

      That's exactly what it is.

      Legally, the police have no role in this other than to keep the peace between the legal parties. It's all part of the greater plan to make copyright infringement a criminal act, which puts the onus on the "infringing party" rather than on the "offended party". This is a big deal because copyright exclusivity is something that you can assert against others by choice. By copying something, you are not automatically committing a crime. That's why it is a civil offense.

      It's also why all the calls to YouTube to automatically remove "copyrighted material" is really to radically misunderstand the problem. Copyright holders regularly *do* put their material onto YouTube because *all* creative works are covered by copyright, even that home video you made. Sorting out what is legally there and what is not is not nearly as straightforward as some would have it.

    2. Fatman

      Re: just out of curiosity

      ...but, seriously, how have we let this happen?

      By electing absolute IMBECILES as lawmakers; those IMBECILES being bought and paid for by their corporate masters.

  10. Vimes

    Putting aside the potential for damage that piracy can do - and the questionable figures often quoted by the media industry - the one thing Orlowski conveniently forgets is that this 'invitation' contained thinly veiled threats. The sort of threat you'd expect from a mobster when he enters the shops and starts talking about what a nice place it is and what a shame it would be if anything happened to it.

    The potential for involving ICANN also shows that the lack of any legal requirement to comply is meaningless when the police are implying that they have other methods at their disposal to encourage or force compliance.

    <shades of 'The Godfather'>It was an offer that the police thought EasyDNS couldn't refuse. They were wrong.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Pirate

    Dear PIPCU

    May I invite you to fuck right off and leave censorship to those legally entrusted to do so?

  12. Wanda Lust

    Just wait.....

    The next part of the story will portray the 'Internet' as being beyond the law, as evidenced by the inability of UK police forces to enforce UK copyright laws (applicable only within the borders of the UK, just in case that wasn't obvious), and therefore DavCam will be canvassing for heavier web filtering to be mandated for UK based ISPs. Other topics to follow.

    The intent is to make the internet as mundane as ITV3 or Channel 5.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Just wait.....

      Oi! What the hell is wrong with ITV3? Where else can I watch endless repeats of Poirot or Murder, She killed?

  13. Amorous Cowherder
    Facepalm

    Stolen IP eh?

    I wonder if next time some scumbag decides to clone one of my photos as their own will the Plod leap into action demanding takedowns and such like? I mean my taxes to the HMRC pay their wages, unlike the modern day robber ( medja ) barons who are so wronged by these torrent sites, so surely I'm entitled to some service from Mr Plod when I'm wronged?

    1. Hollerith 1

      Re: Stolen IP eh?

      Yep, I've had whole columns off my website cloned on quite respectable rival websites without any police at all coming to help me out. Bu then, I am not making oodles of money off my site (well, none, actually -- it's free), so my IP doesn't matter.

  14. SnowCrash

    All this ever seems to do.........

    .....is provide free advertising to the site in question

  15. Shasta McNasty

    False economics

    costing the UK economy hundreds of millions of pounds each year

    Can someone explain to me how a US TV show that I might download from a torrent, watch and then delete costs the UK economy "hundreds of millions of pounds each year"?

    I'm not going to buy the boxset of something I haven't seen and not all shows are shown in Europe and if they are they're sometimes many months behind.

    If it wasn't available on a torrent, I just wouldn't watch it. So the money lost is zero.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: False economics

      "Can someone explain to me how a US TV show that I might download from a torrent, watch and then delete costs the UK economy "hundreds of millions of pounds each year"?"

      Because you can't use a brain to extrapolate business options?

      If demand in the UK, for a US TV show, showed enough demand then a UK broadcaster would license the show for redistribution (read: Breaking Bad). However, BitTorrent use reduces said demand from legitimate sources as the users gain access to the content regardless of legality - therefore, the potential UK broadcaster sees no demand, which loses that market share of potential viewers, which loses that market share of advertizing income due to the lack of commercials that were not run on the non-existent UK rebroadcast.

      Simple.

      1. MrRtd

        Re: False economics

        What are you talking about?

        The a major reason for many to get copies of shows via torrents, is because there are no way to see the show in a reasonable time frame or at a reasonable price. People don't want to wait, shouldn't wait, or need to wait for several months or more to see a show that aired on TV elsewhere in the world.

        Like many have said for years. Make distribution of TV and movies simultaneous and quick at a reasonable price, globally and that will cut down on unwanted free content copying or like the industry likes to call it "piracy".

    2. Adam 1

      Re: False economics

      I am afraid that the field of copyright math is extraordinarily complicated. We really do need to leave it to the experts. A single iPod full of pirated music has been shown to cause northwards of 8 billion dollars damage to the economy.

      So please don't come along with and use your primary school times tables to conclude you have made no damage.

      1. Kris Akabusi

        Re: False economics

        Which model iPod?

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: False economics

        "A single iPod full of pirated music has been shown to cause northwards of 8 billion dollars damage to the economy."

        I remember watching a video about that but can't remember where and don't know how to find it.

        Is it downloadable anywhere? Preferably legally, but not too fussed.

    3. Vic
      Joke

      Re: False economics

      Can someone explain to me how a US TV show that I might download from a torrent, watch and then delete costs the UK economy "hundreds of millions of pounds each year"?

      Because, y'see, you're supposed to spend all your money with Amazon, who then return those hundreds of millions of pounds to the Treasury in taxes...

      Easy, huh?

      Vic.

  16. nsld
    Holmes

    Lets ask PIPCU

    to shut down a well known search engine which profits from advertising whilst letting you look for torrents.

    If they are struggling to find it they can always use Google.........

  17. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Hmmmm, new torrent site

    Thanks Inspector Barnaby!

  18. Radbruch1929

    I am confused by this story:

    a) Canada is a member of the TRIPS agreement and has to have criminal procedures and penalties for copyright piracy on a commercial scale (Article 61 TRIPS). Why does the UK police then address a Canadian DNS provider and threatens to report them to ICANN? A complaint to the relevant prosecutorial counterpart in Canada appears to make more sense if they have a case.

    b) The DNS provider does not seem to have free choice between the courses of action "fold, ignore, fight": If they infringe Canadian law, they have to fold. If they do not, I assume they are bound by their contracts and have to fight. "Ignore" would only be an option if they have no reason to fear any equivalent of contributory infringement sanctions or sanctions against aiding in the commission of copyright infringements.

    c) What is the author's opinion? It is published under "Comment" but I seem to have missed the part where Mr. Orlowski expresses an opinion.

  19. Loyal Commenter Silver badge

    "City of London Police has begun an initiative to target websites that attract visitors by providing unauthorised access to copyrighted content for criminal gain. These websites are able to operate and profit from advertising or other income on their sites without having licenses or paying the creators and owners of the films, TV programmes, music and publications. The initiative also seeks to protect consumers from malware and other harmful programs that may be downloaded unwittingly from sites that provide illegally offered content. "

    So, apart form the 'criminal gain' part, shich I suspect is a rather nebulous term that would be hard to apply to even a torrent indexing site, how is this description different from what any search engine does (no names mentioned). The only way a torrent indexing site differs from a more general search engine is in its specificity, they don't offer any copyrighted material themselves, only the torrent files - it's a bit like prosecuting BT for publishing the phone number of someone conducting criminal activity over the phone, in their phone book. Only copyright infringement is of course a civil, not criminal matter.

    Now, you have to understand that I am not suggesting that providing copies of other people's work pro gratis is morally or legally correct, but surely the people to go after are the ones who are ripping the copyrighted material and seeding the torrents, and surely this is down to the copyright owners, and their associations, especially since the ones making the most noise appear to be quite rich enough to be able to do this for themselves. I don't see why millions of pounds of our taxes should be paying for police to go chasing after civil matters like this, especially when it is so obviously out of their jurisdiction, and especially when the poilce are being expected to make cuts to their budgets to get us out of the mess that the Square Mile got us into in the first place.

    1. JP19

      "and surely this is down to the copyright owners, and their associations, especially since the ones making the most noise appear to be quite rich enough to be able to do this for themselves. I don't see why millions of pounds of our taxes should be paying for police to go chasing after civil matters like this"

      The copyright owners, and their associations find bribing politicians to make laws which are enforced with tax payers money offers the best return for their cash.

  20. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Private Police Force

    PIPCU are nothing more than a private police force for the entertainment industry and should be disbanded !

  21. batfastad
    Megaphone

    watch out

    Watch out eBay, Amazon Marketplace, Discogs and Google. They're coming for you next... Since you enable people to obtain "pirated" (second hand) material.

    Oh wait...

    I've not bought a brand new DVD/CD for years. I always go 2nd hand on principle though even physical media is out for me these days. My physical storage space is too valuable for me to fill it with the tat that's churned out by these media cartels. Add in the time that it would take to consume their media then I'm at a huge net loss.

    Anyone who decides to fund/approve activities like this, presumably diverting any tax money away from the priorities of ensuring a healthy and well-educated population, needs to be punched. Give me a refund.

  22. Ian 55

    "it has not been proven that TorrentPond contains links to infringing material"

    Quite - unless I am missing something, it doesn't even appear to be a torrent site. Not only does it not host material, it doesn't even host .torrent files for torrents of the material.

    It appears to be a site that enables you to search a selection of torrent sites, one at a time, with the same search. Google / Bing / any other general search engine does more than this: they will give you results from more than one site at the same time.

  23. Captain TickTock
    Headmaster

    latter

    is the 2nd of 2 options, the 3rd of 3 would be the last.

    1. MondoMan
      Thumb Up

      Re: latter

      Grammar rules!

  24. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Benefit to tax-paying public

    So are we to believe there is real benefit to the tax-paying public for an arm of the Police to involve it self with policing websites that are neither hosted in the UK nor have their DNS registered with a UK company?

    Not to mention the boiler plate page that helpfully lists all the PIPCU's beneficieries, the content industry.

    So glad to see my taxes are used in a productive manner.. </sarcasm>

  25. JeffyPoooh
    Pint

    Hey, I've got an idea...

    An IP address (as opposed to a URL for those that might be confused) does not require DNS.

    Somebody needs to write an RFC to describe a method to translate words or phrases directly (in the browser or OS) into IP address numbers. Obviously not every possible IP address would translate into a recognizable word or phrase, but many words or phrases would translate into practical IP addresses (especially IPv6). So there might be a scramble for the best IP addresses that match useful words or desired names.

    The end result might be something this: "wwd://piratebay" (wwd = direct) translates directly (using the simple translation algoithm defined in the RFC, stored locally) into the required IP address, where The Pirate Bay has made the effort to be on that IP address.

    This will provide a subset of new DNS-less "wwd" addresses to allow easy to remember name-based locators that are outside the URL / DNS / Registration system.

    I know that there's already most of this in place; I've seen the beginnings of this already, where IP addresses can be typed in in strange formats. It just needs formalizing, expanding, and implementing.

    1. Paul Hovnanian Silver badge
      Boffin

      Re: Hey, I've got an idea...

      Already done. See /etc/hosts (or the Windows equivalent, if such a thing still exists).

      1. Fatman

        Re: Hey, I've got an idea...

        Already done. See /etc/hosts (or the Windows equivalent, if such a thing still exists).

        BUT, that supposes that you already have the IP address.

        If you don't have it to begin with??

        Since an IP(v4) address is only 4 octets, all one needs is a 256 entry "word dictionary"

        Example, the City of London's IP address (one of many, perhaps) is 86.54.118.84.

        Assume the following word assignments:

        54 - yourself

        84 - cops

        86 - fuck

        118 - london

        then translating that IP address into words would give us:

        fuck.yourself.london.cops

    2. Roland6 Silver badge

      Re: Hey, I've got an idea...

      There is the telephone keypad alphabet which gets used to create numbers such as 800-HOTEL

      With IPv4 this might be a little challenging, but with IPv6 could be a good aide-memoire.

  26. btrower

    Bad player. Block them.

    The entity sending those notes is a bad player. An Email message that results in the permanent lost of control of a domain is a particularly odious kind of SPAM. We have mechanisms for dealing with rogue domains on the Internet. They are called Black Hole Lists. I can't think of an entity more deserving of being blocked.

    The Internet is an international system that allows extraordinary freedoms, but it has rules. This entity, allegedly the City of London Police, have violated those rules. They may be above the law in the UK, but they are not above law everywhere else.

    We have no more right to cut people off from the Internet than they have, but we are not obliged to accept their traffic.

  27. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    City of London Police has begun an initiative to target websites that attract visitors by providing unauthorised access to copyrighted content for criminal gain.

    Are they accusing EasyDNS of attracting visitors by providing unauthorised access to copyrighted content?

    If not what they are they doing talking to EasyDNS at all?

    These websites are able to operate and profit from advertising or other income on their sites without having licenses or paying the creators and owners of the films, TV programmes, music and publications

    Again their mission statement doesn't seem to apply to EasyDNS at all.

    I think EasyDNS maye have grounds for a lawsuit against Mr Pold for implying/suggesting they are involved in any of those nefarious activities.

  28. Black Rat

    Musings of a web scraper

    I wonder if TorrentPond and the numerous similiar sites are using data provided by Googles cache or Custom Search service rather than harvesting the links using it's own scripts?

  29. btrower

    They have plenty of real crimes to pursue internally.

    Are these the people we should be trusting to decide which digital information is OK and who should control it?

    http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/sep/18/police-consider-disciplining-officer-teenage-girl

    "The Rees case also comes against the backdrop of concern among senior police officers and the police complaints watchdog about sexual misconduct by officers."

    "The Guardian revealed last month that 169 officers and staff are under investigation for inappropriate relationships and sexual misconduct offences."

  30. Dan 55 Silver badge

    Let's count the ways...

    1. It's the publisher which alleges copyright infringement or FACT the should be writing the letter, not a police force.

    2. Legal action should be taken against company that runs the website in Singapore, not a DNS provider Canada.

    3. They (publisher/FACT) could write a formal letter of complaint to EasyDNS and EasyDNS should decide whether to act or not. If they do, trebles all round as it affects the whole world, not just the UK (for a while at least). If not, well, FACT or the publisher can start official proceedings against EasyDNS in the Canadian courts for aiding and abetting or something equally tenuous but that would be like taking legal action against the Yellow Pages for publishing the phone number of an illegal business.

    4. Ditto for any advertising networks that TorrentPond uses.

    5. If Singaporean courts don't provide redress, well, there's something in the UK invented just for this case which is going to the High Court and getting TorrentPond added to the main UK ISPs blocklists.

    6. A police force in the UK is not a rent-a-mob, or at least shouldn't be. The police wanting to seize a DNS entry without following the proper legal framework set up for it and threatening to shop a business to ICANN over something that's happening in two other jurisdictions if they don't get their own way is probably the most worrying thing.

    1. JaitcH
      FAIL

      Re: Let's count the ways...

      the publisher can start official proceedings against EasyDNS in the Canadian courts

      Remember, Canadian Courts enforce CANADIAN law - not other countries laws. So start hunting for the law you figure fits.

  31. JaitcH
    WTF?

    Police/PIPCU ignorant of UK Law - check the Canada Act 1982 (UK)

    This British Act of the British Parliament separated the Dominion of Canada from the mother-ship. I appreciate Plod often doesn't bother about the niceties of law.

    City of London is 3.32 kilometres (2.06 miles) from Westminster.

    We Canadians also enjoy the protection of the Canadian Constitution - something Britain doesn't have! In fact, Elizabeth II, as Queen of Canada, brought the act into effect with a proclamation she signed in Ottawa on April 17, 1982, with the late Pierre Trudeau doing the honours.

    It's why we Canadians can refuse to even acknowledge police, answer questions, demand a lawyer. We can also do certain things with movies and recordings that others can't - all within Canadian law.

    Even the FBI recognises there is a border; bounty hunters who have snatched people in Canada have had to return them. And, of course, we happily accommodated political refugees from the USA when it invaded VietNam.

    A registration in the .CA domain also has added benefits. And our independence is why Silent Circle, and many others choose to house their servers in Canada.

    So City of London Plod/PIPCU, stop doing the FBI trick of trying to push your laws on to other countries.

  32. John Smith 19 Gold badge
    Meh

    City of London Police clueful on IT crime.

    I think not.

  33. Andy Taylor

    ICANN slap down

    It looks like ICANN has already moved to tell the domain registrars they should reinstate the domains immediately, allow the owner to transfer them to a different registrar or face disciplinary action.

    Interestingly, the letter from the City of London Police is marked with a copyright notice and "Not Protectively Marked" all over it. They go on to explain that this means it should be distributed widely within the organisation, but not released further.

  34. MissingSecurity

    What were they thinking?

    It's our self appointed job to tell other countries citizens about their "responsibilties" as members of the United States ... err global citizens.

  35. Rukario
    Joke

    Legal precedent

    Arkell v. Pressdram (1971).

  36. DavidJB

    Some hypocrisy on the part of EasyDNS. When it concerns copyright infringement, they insist on a court order from their own local court. But when it comes to other forms of online misconduct - alleged cases of spam, phishing, malware, etc - they reserve the right to boot a client off without any legal process if 'The domain is engaged in network abuse or poses a threat to the stability of the internet (or to easyDNS itself). In this last case, we are the final arbiters of what qualifies. This would include things like spreading malware, running botnets, spamming, phishing, etc. '

    So they feel free to act without 'due process' when it suits their own commercial interests (just like Google and other key players) but not when it doesn't.

    1. BongoJoe

      What possible justification has anyone to protect a phishing site?

  37. David 45

    Waste of money

    This is a pathetic waste of taxpayers money. It makes me (to say the least) hopping mad! Never mind about REAL crimes like murder, burglary, assault, rape and so on. No - the great music industry has to be appeased - at great cost, it would seem. I fail to see how the police can unilaterally decide what is and what is not a crime without the case having been brought before a court of law. It is NOT their position do do this and any suggestion that they should have carte blanche to make these types of decisions needs be stamped on ASAP. The suggested re-direct (http://83.138.166.114/) is disgusting, containing links to other sites and pages "supported by" British recorded music industry etc. The police are supposed to be impartial, not the puppets of the music industry and all links should be removed forthwith. This situation of a potential police state needs to be sorted in short order as certain people seem to have grandiose ideas of bypassing the courts completely.

  38. Splendifous

    Harumph! The Blasted Colonial Upstarts!

    Clearly these lumberjacks and beaver pelt traders are getting a little too big for their breeches! How *dare* they defy the request of their betters! There was a time when those bumpkins at the fur trading post could be horsewhipped for their impertinence! A happier time, when the lower classes knew their place, and did not rise above their station.

    Bite my Tim Horton's drinking, hockey loving butt, you silly,silly Bobbies.

  39. unitron
    Headmaster

    An inconvenient FACT

    FACT (Federation Against Copyright Theft)

    WTF is copyright theft?

    It's not like we're talking about bearer bonds here, you can't transfer possession of a copyright by stealing a piece of paper.

  40. Simon Beckett

    PIPCU holding page

    That holding page is highly reminiscent of the page used by browser hijacks purporting to be from the Metropolitan Police... All it needs is a "click here to proceed" button.

    On a wider note they are on a slippery slope if they start closing off websites because there is an accusation against them; even if a case is in progress this still implies guilty until proven innocent, which is the new backbone of UK law enforcement. Next time Apple and MS get in a spat maybe they should have their sites closed down?

  41. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Dont you think....

    ....that Lord Mandelson would have anything to do with this?

  42. Stretch

    The 7%

    anyone know who they are?

  43. Rumournz

    better plan would be:

    http://www.lettersofnote.com/2013/08/arkell-v-pressdram.html

This topic is closed for new posts.

Other stories you might like