Saturday 10 December 2011
Hip-Hop Blog Falsely Censored for One Year
Hip-Hop Blog Falsely Censored for One Year
Last year, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security took over a hip-hop music blog along with 81 others due to an alleged copyright infringement that ended over false allegations. According to CNET, the government abandoned the suit on Dec. 8 after learning that the charge had been exaggerated to prove an anti-piracy point.
The seizure of the music blog, found at DaJaz1.com, was a feeble attempt by Homeland Security to curb piracy over the internet, reported CNET, except that it was done in a shady way.
“Intellectual property crimes are not victimless,” Attorney General Eric Holder said at the time of the seizure. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) director John Morton added, “Today, we turn the tables on these Internet thieves.”
“It turns out that Holder’s and Morton’s claims appear to have been, well, exaggerated,” wrote CNET.
“What’s unusual here is that normally,U.S.law strongly discourages efforts to censor Web sites before a full trial can be held,” CNET continued. “But in the DaJaz1 case, a series of allegations of dubious reliability offered in an ICE affidavit were enough to censor a popular music blog — which had been featured on MTV News a few months earlier — for over a year.”
As it turns out, the four songs by Jamie Foxx, Chris Brown, Nelly and Reek Da Villian that were featured in the affidavit by ICE agent Andrew Reynolds, were actually sent to Dajaz1’s editor (Splash) for promotional use, reported CNET.
Apparently ICE kept the case under wraps by “getting extension after extension from the court under seal without showing me any papers whatsoever,” partner at the Fenwick and West law firm Andrew Bridges told CNET Dec. 8. Bridges is representing Dajaz1 pro bono. “Why did the government feel the need to keep secret the fact of its repeated extensions of time to file the forfeiture proceeding?” he asked.
The Dajaz1 blog is back in its owner’s possession, and features a temporary disclaimer that says it will be back shortly, according to CNET. In addition to this, the site demonstrates a video with a censorship petition that will be sent to ICE.
Check out the website and let Splash know what you think of the whole thing at: www.DaJaz1.com
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