Feds Demand Firefox Remove Add-On That Redirects Seized Domains

[n2doc]

By David Kravets May 5, 2011 | 5:02 pm |
rty
The Department of Homeland Security has requested that Mozilla, the maker of the Firefox browser, remove an add-on that allows web surfers to access websites whose domain names were seized by the government for copyright infringement, Mozilla’s lawyer said Thursday.

But Mozilla did not remove the MafiaaFire add-on, and instead has demanded the government explain why it should. Two weeks have passed, and the government has not responded to Mozilla’s questions, including whether the government considers the add-on unlawful and whether Mozilla is “legally obligated” to remove it. The DHS has also not provided the organization with a court order requiring its removal, the lawyer said.

“One of the fundamental issues here is under what conditions do intermediaries accede to government requests that have a censorship effect and which may threaten the open internet,” Harvey Anderson, Mozilla’s lawyer, wrote Thursday on his blog.

Neither Homeland Security nor Anderson immediately responded for comment.

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/05/firefox-add-on-redirect/

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

1. Good for Firefox and to hell with the censors. K&R

[yourout]

2. Cool......I just went and loaded it.

[GodlessBiker]

8. Me, too!

[LetTimmySmoke]

3. This is a futile effort, as always.

The internet interprets censorship as damage, and like the Borg, WILL repair it.

[Upton]

5. ..

:smoke:

[LetTimmySmoke]

7. I have that exact shirt!

I bought it for $10 from a guy selling shirts in the civic center the night we won the world series.

[GodlessBiker]

4. This is so fucked up: The Department of Homeland Security concerned with copyright infringement?

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

17. Rich people: ''Whatever I don't like is, by definition, a threat to National Security.''

So, in short... L'État C'est Moi, version 2.0.

[Upton]

6. Good move by Mozilla..

if Firefox wasn't already my default browser, them telling DHS where they can stick it, would be enough for me to make it so..

[Taverner]

9. Fuck the DHS on this one

[rhett o rick]

11. Why do we still have a DHS? It was a Bushy idea. Does Pres Obama indorse it? nm

[Taverner]

12. Endorse, not indorse. Pardon my spelling fixation

and yes, I especially hate the term 'homeland.' Sounds too much like the 'Fatherland (Germany)' or 'Motherland (Russia)'

[ZombieHorde]

15. I almost always welcome spelling and grammar suggestions.

So feel free to mention my mistakes.

[rhett o rick]

16. Well of course you welcome it when he is correcting me. Cheesus. nm

[rhett o rick]

18. Thanks, I appreciate it. I have already brought two spell checkers to their knees. The typical

responses when I use spell checker is "you gotta be kidding" or "I recommend a French spell checker."

[Recursion]

14. Actually it was our idea

Bush resisted it at first. Ain't unintended consequences fun?

[rhett o rick]

19. Please elaborate (dang i hope i spelled that right or Taverner will get me) on the "our". nm

[Recursion]

20. It was introduced by Reid, Cleland, Durbin, and Graham (the D Graham)

Bush opposed it for several months (as well as an earlier, similar bill by Lieberman and Specter).

http://mediamatters.org/research/200511030010

[rhett o rick]

21. I did not know that and I feel a little sick. Thanks for the info. nm

[Recursion]

22. The idea was to centralize administration

And on paper, I thought it looked good, too.

[rhett o rick]

23. Well I suppose you can make an argument that Bush didnt even try to make it work. nm

[jp11]

10. Big government will take care of you, prevent you from thinking about anything you shouldn't

be thinking about and most importantly shutting down anything that might make IP holders like the RIAA or MPAA unhappy.

[Newest Reality]

13. DHCE

Department of Homeland Copyright Enforcement?

Since when is the Dept. of Fatherland Insecurity unable to figure out what is supposed to be for?

Oh, that's right, corporations own the "property" and, being people too, they are terrified of Pirates. Yeah, that's the ticket.