Take a look at this request for domain name seizure.
I was reviewing lawsuits involving domain names today when I came across a request for a seizure warrant (pdf). You’ve probably come across a website with a message like this:
These notices don’t get there magically, and a demand for seizure warrant comes first.
I had never read an affidavit for a domain seizure, and it was quite interesting. Basically, U.S. agents in different jurisdictions ordered drugs from many different websites. They were able to tie some of the sites together through a common payment gateway. Many of the drugs they received were misrepresented and all were shipped with the same return address in India.
The seizure request was granted and the domains were seized. To what end, I’m not sure. It’s pretty easy to set up shop on a different domain.
You can review the seizure request here.
Jean Guillon says
It must take investigators hours/days of time and thousands of American dollars to reach out to this when it is going to take less than 5 minutes to the Indian company to use the exact same website with a different domain name.
This is an issue ICANN should deal with.