Az in trouble with the US government?

[Azier the Swordsman]

And it's totally not my fault!

Since I like to shop online a lot, I was merely browsing Google for websites to update my anime DVD collection. (Non HK DVD sites)

And what do I get on the third link I clicked on?

A message stating the website was closed by the US government for movie piracy investigation. It said to wait right where I am to be contacted for further questioning. o_o

So, yeah, I've done absolutely nothing wrong, but... I'm still a little nervous...

It could have been a joke. But probably not.

I guess all I'm really saying is... please pray the feds don't come busting down my doors. o_o

All I wanted was legitimate Gundam DVD's! Honest! o_O

[Jingo Jaden]

I will pray. Hope nothing bad happens.

[Puritan]

That was a prank, I am almost positive. Like the government can afford to contact everybody who LOOKS at a piracy website. They are far more concerned with catching actual pirates than simple people who go to a website, and with the number of engines which go through random webpages looking for information, they just can't afford to look at every contact that goes to the website. Besides, looking at the site isn't a crime, only the pirating of films is, and as you can find stuff on ebay or the amazon marketplace by accident, I know they are not policing this stuff as harshly as this would indicate.

[rii namuras]

(Puritan's right. There's no possible way that they could invistigate every single person who visited a website. That could be an impossible task with search engines today.)

(At the very least, even if it's not a prank and they do "question" you, they have no substantial charges. All you were doing was looking for legit DVDs, and stumbled across a pirate's site on Google. They can't get you into trouble by checking a website to see if they're selling legit DVDs.)

[mitsuki lover]

It would waste too much man power for the Feds to go around questioning everyone whoever clicked on,knowingly or not,to any website that sold bootleg/pirated DVDs.

[Authority3000]

Not to mention that most piracy websites are closed down by the MPAA and IRAA, not the FBI.

And the furthest they ever went was this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:You_can_click_but_you_can%27t_hide.jpg

It was definitely a prank. Considering numerous factors, many of which were stated above.

[GhostontheNet]

Pretty much the government today cannot afford to turn to extraordinary harsh and all-pervasive enforcement of copyright law, because in the end, because its so extremely pervasive in one form or another, if it was struck against too harshly most of the citizens of this country would end up in jail and it would mean an economic collapse that would be a lot worse for the copyright holders than any level of piracy. In general, copyright enforcement happens the most among extreme offenders who run illegal profit or nonprofit enterprises on a large scale and the ocassional avenging divorced spouse who testifies against their ex-spouse. The fact of the matter is, by U.S. law you cannot in fact be issued this kind of order of self-incrimination online, but must be personally visited by agents of the law with a warrant to search the premises based on legally obtained information that gives probable cause that one may reasonably be incriminated by what is found in the search. Also, de-facto many companies know that certain violations of their copyrights are actually good for business and will quietly refuse to pursue enforcement. For example, where would Dance Dance Revolution's many console games be if Konami actually decided to enforce that "Illegal for use outside of Asia" sign plastered in English on the main screen of the Dance Dance Revolution Extreme arcade machines.

[FadedOne]

haha, man I bet the site was very scary at first. I know personally the gov has alot more on me. If I ran into that site and believed it, i'd probably panic.

As others have said though, it's got to be a prank. Very funny if it wasn't for the fact that innocent people will be upset by it.

[Shao Feng-Li]

Heh, the government's got more important things today anyway...

[GhostontheNet]

haha, man I bet the site was very scary at first. I know personally the gov has alot more on me. If I ran into that site and believed it, i'd probably panic.

As others have said though, it's got to be a prank. Very funny if it wasn't for the fact that innocent people will be upset by it.

I wouldn't, because I know my rights from the bill of rights, and I know that if the government really oversteps them in such a flimsy case the defense would be easy and it would make rights in cyberspace more secure.

[Kaligraphic]

Sure, you all say it's a prank, but just yesterday, Googlebot was arresting and is awaiting a hearing relating to visiting that very website!













j/k, you've really got nothing to worry about.

[Mr. SmartyPants]

out of curiousity, which website was this?

[mitsuki lover]

You can't be arrested for just visiting a website.

[Azier the Swordsman]

out of curiousity, which website was this?

I cannot remember, actually. Usually when I'm in surfing mode, I don't bother looking at the actual site name of the links I click, unless I find a site I really like. And when I clicked on that one, I kinda immediately closed everything down and wiped my internet history.

lol

In retrospect, I guess I did overreact a bit, and nobody in black uniforms have come to my doorstep yet, so I think I'm okay.

Funny thing, though. Exactly five minutes after that incident, the pizza delivery person dropped by our house by mistake and rang the doorbell. I was like; "Holy crap, that was fast!"

[mitsuki lover]

Seriously though unless the Feds have probable cause,such as if,for example,you're a known sex offender and have been visiting porno sites on the
internet,or are using the internet to plan terrorist acts,etc.,then they really aren't going to hassle you about what website you may have or may not have visited.
(Ok the examples were a bit overboard,but I hope you got my point.)

[Arnobius]

all very true. And even if they were investigating the shop, they would have to prove
1) You intended to go there (no clicking the wrong link or mistyping the address)
2) You knew they were selling bootlegged goods
3) You were planning on knowingly buying a bootleg product.

Still I might have worried at first too