blog/data/2016-05-19-nuug-popcorn-seizure.txt

   1 Title: I want the courts to be involved before the police can hijack a news site DNS domain (#domstolkontroll)
   2 Tags: english, nuug, offentlig innsyn, opphavsrett
   3 Date: 2016-05-19 14:00
   4
   5 <p>I just donated to the
   6 <a href="http://www.nuug.no/dns-beslag-donasjon.shtml">NUUG defence
   7 "fond"</a> to fund the effort in Norway to get the seizure of the news
   8 site popcorn-time.no tested in court.  I hope everyone that agree with
   9 me will do the same.</p>
  10
  11 <p>Would you be worried if you knew the police in your country could
  12 hijack DNS domains of news sites covering free software system without
  13 talking to a judge first?  I am.  What if the free software system
  14 combined search engine lookups, bittorrent downloads and video playout
  15 and was called Popcorn Time?  Would that affect your view?  It still
  16 make me worried.</p>
  17
  18 <p>In March 2016, the Norwegian police seized (as in forced NORID to
  19 change the IP address pointed to by it to one controlled by the
  20 police) the DNS domain popcorn-time.no, without any supervision from
  21 the courts.  I did not know about the web site back then, and assumed
  22 the courts had been involved, and was very surprised when I discovered
  23 that the police had hijacked the DNS domain without asking a judge for
  24 permission first.  I was even more surprised when I had a look at
  25 <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/*/http://popcorn-time.no">the web
  26 site content on the Internet Archive</A>, and only found news coverage
  27 about Popcorn Time, not any material published without the right
  28 holders permissions.</p>
  29
  30 <p>The seizure was widely covered in the Norwegian press (see for
  31 example <a href="http://www.hegnar.no/Nyheter/Naeringsliv/2016/03/Popcorn-time.no-beslaglagt-av-OEkokrim">Hegnar Online</a> and
  32 <a href="http://itavisen.no/2016/03/08/okokrim-har-beslaglagt-popcorn-time-no/">ITavisen<a/>
  33 and
  34 <a href="http://www.nrk.no/kultur/okokrim-gar-til-aksjon-mot-popcorn-time-1.12842452">NRK</a>),
  35 at first due to the press release sent out by Økokrim, but then based
  36 on
  37 <a href="http://blogg.torvund.net/2016/03/09/okokrims-beslag-i-domenet-popcorn-time-no/">protests
  38 from the law professor Olav Torvund</a> and
  39 <a href="http://www.klassekampen.no/article/20160311/ARTICLE/160319995">lawyer
  40 Jon Wessel-Aas</a>.  It even got some
  41 <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/norwegian-authorities-sued-over-popcorn-time-domain-seizure-160418/">coverage
  42 on TorrentFreak</a>.</p>
  43
  44 <p>I
  45 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/NUUG_contests_Norwegian_police_DNS_seizure_of_popcorn_time_no.html">
  46 wrote about the case a month ago</a>, when the
  47 <a href="http://www.nuug.no/">Norwegian Unix User Group</a> (NUUG),
  48 where I am an active member, decided to ask the courts to test this seizure.
  49 The request was denied, but NUUG and its co-requestor EFN have not
  50 given up, and now they are rallying for support to get the seizure
  51 legally challenged.  They accept both bank and Bitcoin transfer for
  52 those that want to support the request.</p>
  53
  54 <p>If you as me believe news sites about free software should not be
  55 censored, even if the free software have both legal and illegal
  56 applications, and that DNS hijacking should be tested by the courts, I
  57 suggest you <a href="http://www.nuug.no/dns-beslag-donasjon.shtml">show
  58 your support by donating to NUUG</a>.</a>