U.S. seizes sites accused of illegal file sharing

Sites that were seized by the U.S. government displayed this image.

The US government has launched a major crackdown on online copyright infringement, seizing dozens of website domains linked to illegal file sharing and counterfeit goods.

The domains of torrent sites that link to illegal copies of music and movie files and sites that sell counterfeit goods were seized this week by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) division of the Department of Homeland Security. Visitors to such sites as Torrent-finder.com, 2009jerseys.com, and Dvdcollects.com found that their usual sites had been replaced by a message that said: "This domain name has been seized by ICE — Homeland Security Investigations, pursuant to a seizure warrant issued by a United States District Court."

One domain owner said he was surprised by the action.

"My domain has been seized without any previous complaint or notice from any court!" the owner of Torrent-Finder told TorrentFreak, which listed more than 70 domains that were apparently part of the massive seizure.

For more on this story, read U.S. seizes sites linked to copyright infringement on CNET News.