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U.S. Government Shuts Down 84,000 Websites, ‘By Mistake’

torrentfreak.com

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Re: U.S. Government Shuts Down 84,000 Websites, ‘By Mistake’

#71

Post by tibbon »

chopsueyar wrote: post #60
danohuiginn wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

which, incidentally, goes against every accessibility law in the book.

Interesting point. No Section 508 compliance. 5th amendment violation - taking property without due process Libel - falsely accusing a domain name owner of peddling kiddie porn Any others I am missing?

I just sent an email on this.

To Whom it May Concern:

The Department of Homeland Security has recently seized around 84,000 domains, replacing their content with a gif image (can be seen at: http://74.81.170.110/ with a backup at http://linuxhomebase.com/IPRC_Seized_2010_11.jpg). This is part of "Operation: Protect Our Children" (more info at: http://www.dhs.gov/ynews/releases/pr_1297804574965.shtm)

The entire source code to the page is now:

    
    
    This domain name has been seized by ICE - Homeland Security Investigations
As you can see, this page being run by the DHS has no compliance with Section 508 and is completely inaccessible to citizens and users with disabilities. I find the lack of accessibility by a government office to be highly disturbing and hope that you can direct me in such a way that will help resolve this situation.

This is email is being sent to the DHS and U.S. General Services Administration Office of Governmentwide Policy, IT Accessibility & Workforce Division in hopes that both agencies can work together to create an alternate site that is in compliance with the law.

Re: U.S. Government Shuts Down 84,000 Websites, ‘By Mistake’

#72

Post by scelerat »

GrandMasterBirt wrote: post #56
yardie wrote: post #8

It's amazing that these operations and bills are intentionally wrapped in wording that makes them politically untouchable. I can see why lawmakers wouldn't want to investigate this. Who wants to be the congressman/woman that went against Operation Save our children ?

How about a better question: Why is this allowed in the united states? This is an absofuckingloutely clear violation of the due process in our constitution. Yes save the fucking children, but do it properly. We see the abuses that arise from improper giving of power. I guess people are waiting until basically we live in communist russia where you got to bribe cops to not give you speeding ticket, impound your car, an…

Worth repeating: due process. It's important.

Re: U.S. Government Shuts Down 84,000 Websites, ‘By Mistake’

#73

Post by marknutter »

Am I right in assuming that even if a domain name is seized, the IP address will still work? If this is true, couldn't there just be a hosted index of all IP's and their associated domain names so that people could get to these sites by referencing this information? Hell, it could even be a browser plugin, so that if you type the domain name in and it happens to have been seized, it will be redirected to the proper IP address. Is this feasible?

Re: U.S. Government Shuts Down 84,000 Websites, ‘By Mistake’

#74

Post by gyardley »

yummyfajitas wrote: post #57
jdp23 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

or the PATRIOT Act ...

Or the "Heroes Earnings Assistance and Relief Tax Act of 2007" The more detailed title: "To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide earnings assistance and tax relief to members of the uniformed services, volunteer firefighters, and Peace Corps volunteers, and for other purposes." http://www.opencongress.org/bill/110-h3997/show It's only when you read the text you discover things like tax credits for low s…

Ah, yes, the 'Heroes Earnings Assistance and Relief Tax Act of 2007'.

I'm no tax attorney, but I believe that was the act that subjects me to immediate capital gains tax on all my illiquid assets (read: start-up stock) at their fair market value should I ever stop being a permanent resident of the United States.

Woo, nothing like potentially bankruptcy-causing exit taxes, especially when they're triggered by losing permanent residency - a status that's not 100% up to me. And my fiancee wonders why I get nervous whenever I cross the American border.

Can you believe I was eventually planning to naturalize when I got my green card eight years ago? Now that just cracks me up.

Re: U.S. Government Shuts Down 84,000 Websites, ‘By Mistake’

#76

Post by th »

marknutter wrote: post #73

Am I right in assuming that even if a domain name is seized, the IP address will still work? If this is true, couldn't there just be a hosted index of all IP's and their associated domain names so that people could get to these sites by referencing this information? Hell, it could even be a browser plugin, so that if you type the domain name in and it happens to have been seized, it will be redirected to the proper I…

DNS is really just a huge peer-to-peer network with a few central nodes, so this shouldn't be too difficult. You can already use an alternate primary nameserver, such as Google's 8.8.8.8. You'd just need your alternate nameserver to maintain a different cache than all of the other servers.

Re: U.S. Government Shuts Down 84,000 Websites, ‘By Mistake’

#77

Post by graywh »

nightpool wrote: post #61
nicpottier wrote: post #55

Am I the only one that is amused that the site they redirect to serves a single gigantic GIF totally 205K in size? It is also exactly 1024x768, which seems even sillier, I guess people browsing child porn run their browsers in full screen mode all the time? http://74.81.170.110/

Maybe they were thinking people wanted to use it as their background?

I'm not sure I could find a working monitor that small...

Re: U.S. Government Shuts Down 84,000 Websites, ‘By Mistake’

#78

Post by asdfj843lkdjs »

mcantelon wrote: post #66
GrandMasterBirt wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How about a better question: Why is this allowed in the united states? This is an absofuckingloutely clear violation of the due process in our constitution. Yes save the fucking children, but do it properly. We see the abuses that arise from improper giving of power. I guess people are waiting until basically we live in communist russia where you got to bribe cops to not give you speeding ticket, impound your car, an…

>the government will never turn to a giant powergrab overnight. They've learn through history and the wisdom of the public relations industry: consolidate power gradually and using numerous pretexts. I'd guess the power consolidation has an end vision in mind: one doesn't spend the kind of effort they've spent without a goal.

one doesn't spend the kind of effort they've spent without a goal.

Never credit to malice what can be explained by incompetence.

I personally believe that pretty much all democratic governments are slipping towards fascism, not because any one or any group has that as a far vision, but because all have short term goals which create the emergent long term effect of a slow slide towards fascism.

Ever bigger law enforcement in the name of "Save the Children" is a prime example. I really do think the motivation here is primarily to help, not drive America towards fascism. The secondary effect is just not something the prime movers want to bother their minds with.

Re: U.S. Government Shuts Down 84,000 Websites, ‘By Mistake’

#79

Post by marshray »

th wrote: post #76
marknutter wrote: post #73

Am I right in assuming that even if a domain name is seized, the IP address will still work? If this is true, couldn't there just be a hosted index of all IP's and their associated domain names so that people could get to these sites by referencing this information? Hell, it could even be a browser plugin, so that if you type the domain name in and it happens to have been seized, it will be redirected to the proper I…

DNS is really just a huge peer-to-peer network with a few central nodes, so this shouldn't be too difficult. You can already use an alternate primary nameserver, such as Google's 8.8.8.8. You'd just need your alternate nameserver to maintain a different cache than all of the other servers.

It's distributed, but not really peer-to-peer. It's almost completely hierarchical.
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