Source:
Prison Planet
Paul Joseph Watson
In a chilling illustration of how far Internet censorship has advanced,
the Department of Homeland Security seized a popular music blog and shut
down the website for over a year on charges it now admits were
completely false.
The website in question –
www.dajaz1.com – was not some obscure, dubious blog – it was a popular platform for DJ’s that was once featured on MTV.
“Around Thanksgiving 2010, the Department of Homeland Security seized
more than 70 domains with no trial, accusing them of copyright
infringement,” reports the San Francisco Chronicle.
Dajaz1.com was caught in the dragnet after DHS claimed four songs
posted on the website were used without permission, when in fact the
musicians and publicists concerned had sent the tracks directly to
Dajaz1 with express authorization.
That didn’t stop Homeland Security from seizing and shutting down the
blog for over a year, violating the law by refusing to tell its owner
why the website was taken and subsequently missing the 90 day deadline
for explaining why the owner should forfeit the property permanently.
“Or at least that’s what the owner assumed when he heard nothing. Then the court told him that the government got an extension.”
“But the owner couldn’t see the extension because all the filings in
the case were sealed, and was not allowed to testify in court to ask for
his property back, says TechDirt.”
The saga finally came to a close when the owner was handed back control of the website only yesterday.
The lesson to take from this is that Homeland Security can now just
claim your website contains copyrighted material with no evidence
whatsoever and seize it without any recourse.
“This whole thing has been a disgrace by the US government, starting
with a bogus seizure, improper and illegal censorship, followed by
denial of due process and unnecessary secrecy,”
reports TechDirt.