DrugBuyers.Com: DEA taking over domain names

I came across this link on the website article cited by apap. This is one way that the DEA could turn an OP into an undercover sting operation. Not meant to scare anyone - just something to keep in mind.

For the story go to this link

I'll paste a copy of the article below.

Feds hijack illicit sites

Declan McCullagh, CNET News.com
CNET News.com
February 27, 2003, 12:18 BST

US federal police have been given the power to shut down Web sites that contain

information or products used for illegal purposes

Federal police have adopted a novel crime-fighting tactic: seizing control of domain

names for Web sites that allegedly violate the law.

Attorney General John Ashcroft said on Monday that the domain names for several

Web sites allegedly set up to sell illegal "drug paraphernalia" would be pointed at

servers located at the Drug Enforcement Administration.

A federal judge in Pittsburgh granted the US Department of Justice permission to do

so until a trial can take place, the government said.

Wednesday afternoon, the DOJ said it had taken over the iSoNews.com domain,

whose owner pleaded guilty to felony copyright crimes under the controversial Digital

Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). David Rocci, 22, pleaded guilty in December to

using his site to sell "mod" chips that let Microsoft Xbox and Sony PlayStation owners

modify their devices so they can use them to play illegally copied games, or "warez."

Rocci "attempted to profit by marketing circumvention devices to (the gaming)

community knowing they would be used to play pirated games," Michael Chertoff, the

assistant attorney general for the DOJ's criminal division, said in a statement. "He

thought that there were no risks associated with his actions. He was wrong, and

everyone engaged in the warez scene should take note."

As previously reported, manufacturers like Sony have waged an international fight

against mod chips, with Canadian police targeting an Ottawa man last July for selling

mod chips for the PlayStation 2. A Hong Kong video game retailer, Lik-Sang, has

been sued by game console makers Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony.

But this case appears to have been the first such prosecution in the US under the

DMCA, a 1998 copyright law that generally restricts anyone from circumventing copy

protection technologies or distributing software or hardware designed for

circumvention purposes.

The DMCA says commercial violators "shall be fined not more than $500,000

(£315,630) or imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or both, for the first offence."

The Justice Department did not release a copy of Rocci's plea agreement, but said

that he will be sentenced on March 7 before US District Judge James Cacheris in

Alexandria, Virginia.

"Rocci used his Web site as the exclusive means to advertise and market the sale of

mod chips to individuals in the online warez community," the government said in a

statement.

"The iSoNews Web site was dedicated to providing information about copyright

infringement and piracy, and included pages with news on the illegal warez scene,

discussion forums on piracy, and up-to-date listings of all of the latest pirated

products that were available. The site had over 100,000 registered users and

claimed to receive over 140,000 hits each day."

Rocci allegedly sold the Enigmah chip, which cost between $45 and $60 (£28 and

£38) apiece. Like other mod chips, the Enigmah defeats security systems in the

Xbox, allowing owners to play legally and illegally copied games, run unauthorised

software and play games intended for other geographic regions.

Some hackers have seized on mod chips as a vehicle to run Linux on the Xbox.

Advocates argue such legitimate, non-piracy uses of mod chips disqualify them as

"circumvention devices" under the DMCA.

Visitors to iSoNews.com on Wednesday saw a notice saying: "The domain and Web

site were surrendered to US law enforcement pursuant to a federal prosecution and

felony plea agreement for conspiracy to violate criminal copyright laws."

But the Web site is still online and accessible via means other than the domain

name.

iSoNews.com regulars have resorted to using the site's numeric IP address --

66.201.243.170 -- and are continuing to discuss the case. "Thanks to everyone for

your support in this site, we all appreciate it and will continue to do so," one person

wrote.

In October 2000, Sega had threatened iSoNews.com with a cease-and-desist letter,

but Jennifer Granick, the attorney representing the site at the time, said on

Wednesday that no suit had been filed.

An attorney for Rocci could not be reached on Wednesday.

Marc Rotenberg of the Electronic Privacy Information Centre said on Monday that

redirecting Web visitors to Justice Department sites becomes a kind of "electronic

flypaper" that raises novel legal questions.

The privacy policy on the Justice Department's site permits the DOJ to hand

personal information about visitors to the FBI or other law enforcement agencies. It

says, "We may take additional steps to identify you based on this information, and

we may share this information, including your identity, with other government

agencies."

At least four drug-related Web sites targeted by the Justice Department --

PipesForYou.com, ColorChangingGlass.com, 420now.com, and OmniLounge.com --

now sport government messages.

The text says: "By application of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration,

the Web site you are attempting to visit has been restrained by the United States

District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania."

Federal law prohibits selling any product that is "primarily intended" for use with

illegal drugs, including water pipes, roach clips and small spoons used with cocaine.