Feds Seize Domains of Movie "Linking" Websites in Piracy Raid

by Mark Hefflinger
Digital Media Wire
Jun. 30, 2010

New York - Federal authorities announced on Wednesday that they have seized the domains of seven websites said to be involved in the illegal distribution of copyrighted movies and TV shows online. Six of the sites -- TVShack.net, Movies-Links.TV, FilesPump.com, Now-Movies.com, PlanetMoviez.com and ThePirateCity.org -- are classified by the feds as "linking" websites, as they do not host copyrighted content themselves, but instead provide links to sites that do.

"Linking websites are popular because they allow users to quickly browse content and locate illegal copies of movies and television shows that would otherwise be more difficult to find," reads a statement from Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, whose offices partnered with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) unit of the Department of Homeland Security on the action.

The seventh site targeted, ZML.com, is a "cyberlocker" service that lets users anonymously upload content to an online locker, and features ads for movies still in theaters available from the site.

Bharara said that authorities also executed search warrants on servers associated with the websites, and said he would ask that the domains be forfeited.

"ICE and our partners at the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center have been tracking the proliferation of pirate Web sites run by people who have no respect for creativity and innovation," said Assistant Secretary of ICE John T. Morton.

"We are dedicated to protecting the jobs, the income and the tax revenue that disappear when organized criminals offer stolen movies for their own profit."

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/2bb64zo (PDF of announcement)
http://tinyurl.com/39oqj7k (AP)