6 ms·

Kim Dotcom loses new domain in preemptive strike by Gabon government

86 points by quadrahelix 14y ago

nthitz 14y ago
The .ga registrar is managed by a subsidiary of Vivendi, so this isn't too surprising.
- adestefan 14y ago
  For those that don't know, Vivendi is a French conglomerate that has strong holdings in music, movies, TV, and video games. Their assets include Universal Music Group and a 61% stake in Activision Blizzard.
  - moe 14y ago
    For context: Universal Music Group was the driving force behind the MegaUpload raid, they really don't like Kimble.
CountHackulus 14y ago
I realize that Gabon isn't the US, but having something taken away before any crime is even committed. That seems a bit extreme. What's next, pre-crime units?
- xlevus 14y ago
  The Department of FCFL (Future Crimes, Future Laws) has determined that this comment will breach future legislation. Please report to your closest incarceration facility immediately.
  - 385668 14y ago
    Not to be confused with FLCL (Gainax going insane).
- powertower 14y ago
  My understanding is that his domain registration was invalidated or revoked because he made a public statement that he would use this domain to circumvent anti-piracy laws. I'm sure it's in the Registrar's TOS that using domains for criminal enterprises is not allowed.
  - pyre 14y ago
    Seems like a less extreme course of action would be to just send him a warning that, should he do so, his domain would be revoked (possibly without notice). Though, as someone pointed out, if you follow the purse strings you hit Vivendi which is deeply invested in copyright. Seems likely that someone realized that they had access to kill his .ga domain, sent out the relevant requests, and extreme (rather than measured) action was taken.
w1ntermute 14y ago
I'm surprised www.kim.com hasn't been seized yet by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
rdl 14y ago
I still don't understand why insane people use ccTLDs for the characters, rather than due to the national law. It's like picking a flag of convenience for your ship due to the pretty colors of the flag.
- olalonde 14y ago
  The reason is that all good .com domains are taken or squatted. Also, ships don't use flags of convenience for their colors but for laws that are advantageous to them.
  - vog 14y ago
    -1 for defeating a strawman argument in the second sentence: Also, ships don't use flags of convenience for their colors but for laws that are advantageous to them. The parent posting didn't question that. On the contrary, the fact that ships chose their flag by law instead of color - that was exactly the parent posting's point.
    - olalonde 14y ago
      Right, I misunderstood that last part. My main point still stands.
      - rdl 14y ago
        Lack of domain names isn't as much of a problem as it was 5-10 years ago, due to: 1) Mobile apps 2) Search (especially search-in-address-bar) 3) The fundamentally large namespace I'd still rather have a domain like "tryfoobar.com" early on rather than foobar.ix or even worse, foob.ar or foubar.com. Provided foobar.com isn't a competitor, porn site, etc., and that I can make efforts to buy foobar.com/net/org/co.uk/jp/etc. with time if successful. The only strong argument for (ab)using a ccTLD, IMO is URL shorteners.
- jbigelow76 14y ago
  There is no "type in traffic" aspect to a ship's chosen flag like there is with a domain name. Similarly there is no concept of a building a brand around a ship the way there is for a domain/business.
aw3c2 14y ago
Already covered at http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4752023 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4752023
samstokes 14y ago
Edit: was complaint about misleading title, title is no longer misleading
- DanBC 14y ago
  Why is the title misleading? > "I have instructed my departments... to immediately suspend the site www.me.ga," said Communication Minister Blaise Louembe, according to the AFP French news agency. (http://phys.org/news/2012-11-gabon-megaupload-site.html http://phys.org/news/2012-11-gabon-megaupload-site.html) > Communication Minister Blaise Louembe, [said] he wanted to "protect intellectual property rights" and "fight cyber crime effectively". "Gabon cannot serve as a platform or screen for committing acts aimed at violating copyrights, nor be used by unscrupulous people,"
  - MiguelHudnandez 14y ago
    I presume that the original title just said "by government."
    - DanBC 14y ago
      Ah, that makes sense.
philipmorg 14y ago
This reminds me of the need for robust P2P tech in the name resolution layer.
- kenrikm 14y ago
  Agreed. I've been mulling this over for a while.
- throwaway64 14y ago
  namecoins fit the bill rather nicely, its essentially bitcoin, but applied to DNS. http://www.dot-bit.org/ http://www.dot-bit.org/
  - foobarqux 14y ago
    Do they? No one seems to be using them despite the fact that centralized DNS seems to be fatally flawed. Maybe it just really isn't that big of a problem when put in context.
    - pyre 14y ago
      The 'people with money' could make it happen if they wanted to, but since they have money, they're not too concerned about the government taking things away. The little guy has more to lose than the big guys, but few people are going to jump through hoops for the little guy.
pg 14y ago
That should make anyone think twice about using .ga domains.
- reinhardt 14y ago
  The real question is if there is any TLD you don't have to think twice about, and if yes for how much longer..
  - canttestthis 14y ago
    Is there any TLD more liberal/permissive than .se? I don't think so...
    - diggan 14y ago
      .onion but that is more like a pseudo-TLD. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.onion http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.onion
  - rdl 14y ago
    It's pretty clear that there are some places to just write off (Libya .ly, io, ga, etc.), and then, if you have anything even vaguely questionable, use a domain name in your country of operation. If you're operating from NZ, you're already exposed to NZ law. A .co.nz domain name adds no additional risk. You may need to pick your country based on favorable laws -- i.e. don't run a gambling site from the US, and don't be a US citizen. HK is actually one of the better choices. The US is actually good for a lot of things, too. If you're in the US, .com/.net/.org are all roughly equivalent, although I still think .com is the best overall tradeoff. There are some differences in individual registry ToS, but every one I've read is flexible enough as to be meaningless if they want to do something. It's probably fair to say the US is the biggest risk for anyone operating in a non-US country except for their own government, so .com is a "safe" backup choice as well. If you're really worried, the only safe choice is .onion :) Safe from having large numbers of users, too! (you'd be better off at that point distributing some kind of client software, or running multiple pop-up frontends accessing a common API, and then making it easy to move the API around using client-side failover.)
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
amerf1 14y ago
the domain LadyGa.ga should be in trouble then

86 points by quadrahelix 14y ago

nthitz 14y ago

The .ga registrar is managed by a subsidiary of Vivendi, so this isn't too surprising.

adestefan 14y ago
For those that don't know, Vivendi is a French conglomerate that has strong holdings in music, movies, TV, and video games. Their assets include Universal Music Group and a 61% stake in Activision Blizzard.
- moe 14y ago
  For context: Universal Music Group was the driving force behind the MegaUpload raid, they really don't like Kimble.

CountHackulus 14y ago

I realize that Gabon isn't the US, but having something taken away before any crime is even committed. That seems a bit extreme. What's next, pre-crime units?

xlevus 14y ago
The Department of FCFL (Future Crimes, Future Laws) has determined that this comment will breach future legislation. Please report to your closest incarceration facility immediately.
- 385668 14y ago
  Not to be confused with FLCL (Gainax going insane).
powertower 14y ago
My understanding is that his domain registration was invalidated or revoked because he made a public statement that he would use this domain to circumvent anti-piracy laws. I'm sure it's in the Registrar's TOS that using domains for criminal enterprises is not allowed.
- pyre 14y ago
  Seems like a less extreme course of action would be to just send him a warning that, should he do so, his domain would be revoked (possibly without notice). Though, as someone pointed out, if you follow the purse strings you hit Vivendi which is deeply invested in copyright. Seems likely that someone realized that they had access to kill his .ga domain, sent out the relevant requests, and extreme (rather than measured) action was taken.

w1ntermute 14y ago

I'm surprised www.kim.com hasn't been seized yet by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

rdl 14y ago

I still don't understand why insane people use ccTLDs for the characters, rather than due to the national law. It's like picking a flag of convenience for your ship due to the pretty colors of the flag.

olalonde 14y ago
The reason is that all good .com domains are taken or squatted. Also, ships don't use flags of convenience for their colors but for laws that are advantageous to them.
- vog 14y ago
  -1 for defeating a strawman argument in the second sentence: Also, ships don't use flags of convenience for their colors but for laws that are advantageous to them. The parent posting didn't question that. On the contrary, the fact that ships chose their flag by law instead of color - that was exactly the parent posting's point.
  - olalonde 14y ago
    Right, I misunderstood that last part. My main point still stands.
    - rdl 14y ago
      Lack of domain names isn't as much of a problem as it was 5-10 years ago, due to: 1) Mobile apps 2) Search (especially search-in-address-bar) 3) The fundamentally large namespace I'd still rather have a domain like "tryfoobar.com" early on rather than foobar.ix or even worse, foob.ar or foubar.com. Provided foobar.com isn't a competitor, porn site, etc., and that I can make efforts to buy foobar.com/net/org/co.uk/jp/etc. with time if successful. The only strong argument for (ab)using a ccTLD, IMO is URL shorteners.
jbigelow76 14y ago
There is no "type in traffic" aspect to a ship's chosen flag like there is with a domain name. Similarly there is no concept of a building a brand around a ship the way there is for a domain/business.

aw3c2 14y ago

Already covered at http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4752023 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4752023

samstokes 14y ago

Edit: was complaint about misleading title, title is no longer misleading

DanBC 14y ago
Why is the title misleading? > "I have instructed my departments... to immediately suspend the site www.me.ga," said Communication Minister Blaise Louembe, according to the AFP French news agency. (http://phys.org/news/2012-11-gabon-megaupload-site.html http://phys.org/news/2012-11-gabon-megaupload-site.html) > Communication Minister Blaise Louembe, [said] he wanted to "protect intellectual property rights" and "fight cyber crime effectively". "Gabon cannot serve as a platform or screen for committing acts aimed at violating copyrights, nor be used by unscrupulous people,"
- MiguelHudnandez 14y ago
  I presume that the original title just said "by government."
  - DanBC 14y ago
    Ah, that makes sense.

philipmorg 14y ago

This reminds me of the need for robust P2P tech in the name resolution layer.

kenrikm 14y ago
Agreed. I've been mulling this over for a while.
throwaway64 14y ago
namecoins fit the bill rather nicely, its essentially bitcoin, but applied to DNS. http://www.dot-bit.org/ http://www.dot-bit.org/
- foobarqux 14y ago
  Do they? No one seems to be using them despite the fact that centralized DNS seems to be fatally flawed. Maybe it just really isn't that big of a problem when put in context.
  - pyre 14y ago
    The 'people with money' could make it happen if they wanted to, but since they have money, they're not too concerned about the government taking things away. The little guy has more to lose than the big guys, but few people are going to jump through hoops for the little guy.

pg 14y ago

That should make anyone think twice about using .ga domains.

reinhardt 14y ago
The real question is if there is any TLD you don't have to think twice about, and if yes for how much longer..
- canttestthis 14y ago
  Is there any TLD more liberal/permissive than .se? I don't think so...
  - diggan 14y ago
    .onion but that is more like a pseudo-TLD. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.onion http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.onion
- rdl 14y ago
  It's pretty clear that there are some places to just write off (Libya .ly, io, ga, etc.), and then, if you have anything even vaguely questionable, use a domain name in your country of operation. If you're operating from NZ, you're already exposed to NZ law. A .co.nz domain name adds no additional risk. You may need to pick your country based on favorable laws -- i.e. don't run a gambling site from the US, and don't be a US citizen. HK is actually one of the better choices. The US is actually good for a lot of things, too. If you're in the US, .com/.net/.org are all roughly equivalent, although I still think .com is the best overall tradeoff. There are some differences in individual registry ToS, but every one I've read is flexible enough as to be meaningless if they want to do something. It's probably fair to say the US is the biggest risk for anyone operating in a non-US country except for their own government, so .com is a "safe" backup choice as well. If you're really worried, the only safe choice is .onion :) Safe from having large numbers of users, too! (you'd be better off at that point distributing some kind of client software, or running multiple pop-up frontends accessing a common API, and then making it easy to move the API around using client-side failover.)

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

amerf1 14y ago

the domain LadyGa.ga should be in trouble then