In an effort to crack down on pirated films, music and goods, the U.S. government's Immigrations and Customs Enforcement bureau has launched an assault on web sites that it claims is propagating illegal activity. In some cases, I.C.E. is seizing the actual web site domains and closing them down. Illegal downloads cost the entertainment industry billions of dollars every year, but it's hard to stop the pirates, who can open up new sites from territories outside the USA. In certain parts of Asia, it's almost impossible to buy a CD or DVD that isn't pirated. The New York Times reports on the crackdown, stating:
"Among the domains seized were torrent-finder.com and those of three sites that specialized in music: onsmash.com, rapgodfathers.com and dajaz1.com. TorrentFreak, a news blog about BitTorrent — a file-sharing system that has tended to elude the authorities because it is decentralized — said that at least 70 other addresses had been seized, most belonging to sites related to counterfeit clothing, DVDs and other goods."
Critics of the enforcement say innocent parties are being punished, along with the guilty. For more click here