Homeland Security tracking visits to seized domains using Google Analytics and Piwik

The US Dept of Homeland Security shut down more than 70 web sites over the weekend which they claimed were involved in distributing copyrighted music.

Nothing to see here... move along.

If you buy into all this “intellectual property” stuff in the first place… you think information can be considered “property” then you must also think of domains as private intellectual property which is protected under the 4th amendment from warrantless search and seizure- and the fact that they issued a single blanket warrant for all these domains indicates that they did not afford each domain owner due process because each site has different owners, different content and should be considered in separate court proceedings.

Since they shut off domains at the top level (.com) which Verisign is authoritative for, they just issue one single order to verisign for as many domains as they like, without considering the ethics of copying and distributing information which essentially boils down to very long numbers.  Can you “own” a number?  They seem to think so. People can form legally enforcable contracts but what if someone didn’t agree not to download your song?  They haven’t violated any contract.  Ah, right but we’re supposed to think of information as property.  The concept of Intellectual Property is absurd and disproven. You can not own a number and copying a number is not stealing property, since the original number still exists!

Naturally being curious about these seized domains, I pulled some cached pages from that rapgodfathers.com site off archive.org to see what was going on.   The keywords in their pages include terms like “warez” which means unlicensed software, and although site did seem to contain some info related to file sharing that is for a court of law to decide whether it violates any copyrights, not the corporate media and RIAA MPAA with their takedown notices.  Google and YouTube host copyrighted media all the time and get away with it.

I didn’t exactly want to visit the confiscated domain, for fear of getting on some kind of “list” but unfortunately I accidentally clicked a link in the archive.org cache of it, which took me to rapgodfathers.com.  Since I already loaded the thing (javascripts blocked of course), I had a look at the source code of the DHS page (below), and noticed that they’re using two different stats packages (Google Analytics, and Piwik) which record IP addresses, referring URLs, and potentially other private information of all those terrorist file-sharers.  Yes, some accidental visits will also be added to the database, but we have nothing to worry about, being accidentally added to homeland security lists… or.. nevermind.

The Piwik analytic software appears to be running on the following private host:

CaroNet Managed Hosting, Inc. CI-74-81-170-0-23 (NET-74-81-170-0-1) 74.81.170.0 - 74.81.171.255
Carolina Internet, Ltd. CARO-NET-ARIN-4 (NET-74-81-160-0-1) 74.81.160.0 - 74.81.191.255

So not only is DHS apparently doing unconstitutional seizure of domains within the US, they’re also recording visitors’ info without any kind of privacy statement. I can’t say this surpirses me but when the government starts keeping lists of citizens, no good ever comes of it.

Federal agents can’t just sit there and execute takedown requests from companies unless they can prove a copyright violation in court and a warrant is issued to seize the “intellectual property.”  I mean, that is what you’re claiming to protect, right? In our legal system, proving something is supposed to mean going to court and having a judge or preferably a jury decide based on evidence presented and testimony.  This type of activity is a slippery slope to total censorship and centralized control over internet… which is exactly what they want.

So then, DHS, ICE, and whatever the other agency was, (so many agencies it makes my head spin) where are the search warrants to seize this so-called intellectual property?

4th amendment, people!

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Northrop Grumman awarded $44M contract for illegal immigrant detention

Qbit.cc has learned that in 2008 ICE and Homeland Security awarded Northrop Grumman a contract to provide “Bed Space, Transportation and Detainee Location Tracking” of illegal immigrants, from 2009-2013.  Northrop Grumman is one of the suppliers of weapons to the US Military.

You can download the contract PDF here. Itemized dollar amounts have been redacted but it does indicate the total amount of the award: $44,348,547.00

Also attached:

US Dept of Homeland Security
Office of Detention and Removal Operations DRO
Briefing Book

Federal Law Enforcement Operations Underway in Michigan Against Militia Members

March 28th, 2010
Cryptogon/WXYZ Detroit

In case you’re wondering about those FBI satellite vans…

Flashback to 2008: U.S. Government to Use Most Advanced Spy Technology Against Americans:

The Bush administration said yesterday that it plans to start using the nation’s most advanced spy technology for domestic purposes soon, rebuffing challenges by House Democrats over the idea’s legal authority.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said his department will activate his department’s new domestic satellite surveillance office in stages, starting as soon as possible with traditional scientific and homeland security activities — such as tracking hurricane damage, monitoring climate change and creating terrain maps.

Sophisticated overhead sensor data will be used for law enforcement once privacy and civil rights concerns are resolved, he said.

Via: WXYZ Detroit:

The FBI was conducting raids Saturday night at multiple locations in southeast Michigan.

Action News has learned Homeland Security and the Joint Anti-terrorism Task Force is also involved in a major operation.

Federal officials would not say who they were targeting or where, but the FBI has set up a command center at the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Department in Ann Arbor, where they have brought in two satellite trucks and a radio tower.

Agents have also obtained search warrants and multiple arrests have been made.

Homeland Security Agents Pull Ohio Libraries’ Haz-Mat Documents

American Libraries Association

It all began March 26, when a woman came to the reference desk and asked Martha Lee of the Bluffton (Ohio) Public Library for the Allen County Hazardous Materials Emergency Plan. Lee told American Libraries that after receiving the appropriate binder, the woman declared, “You can’t have it back.” The patron removed the materials and substituted a letter stating that the haz-mat manual would be “available for public inspection” at Allen County’s Homeland Security Office, although “proper ID may be required” to access it. According to Lee, the woman also said, “Well, I have a whole list of libraries I have to visit.”

Apparently, one of them was Lima Public Library, where Homeland Security agents flashed their badges and announced that they had come to “update” the emergency-plan binder. The reference staff later found that the same letter had been substituted for the manual. “It’s information that probably doesn’t belong on our library shelf,” Lima Public Library’s Head of Public Relations Karen Sommer told American Libraries, noting that Allen County contains both an oil refinery and the only military-tank-manufacturing plant still operating in the U.S. She added, “What we really had a problem with was the way it was handled”—namely the apparent presumption that librarians might not cooperate otherwise.

Paul Rider of the environmental group Ohio Citizen Action was far less sympathetic. Denouncing the documents’ relocation “as a pretext to push through an agenda that has nothing to do with terrorism,” he told American Libraries that the action furthered the chemical industry’s goal of “shutting down the right to know so their pesky neighbors won’t pester them about the soot that’s landing in their yards.”

Homeland Security document labels all freedom loving citizens as terrorists

From BSC

All of these obviously NON terrorist groups, are classified as terrorists and lumped in with other real terrorist groups like Aryan Nation Prison gangs, and violent anti-semitic hate groups, in this Department of Homeland Security document.

This document can broadly classify ANYONE as a terrorist. Please read it. Please pass it on. Below you will find a selection of the most dangerous parts and some comments. The full PDF is linked below.

This product provides definitions for key terms and phrases that often appear in DHS analysis that addresses the nature and scope of the threat that domestic, non-Islamic extremism poses to theUnited States.

- Notice how it says domesitc, non-Islamic extremism…. aka Americans.

(U) alternative media (U//FOUO)
A term used to describe various information sources that provide a forum for interpretations of events and issues that differ radically from those presented in mass media products and outlets.

- If your story doesn’t match the ‘official’ story, you are a terrorist. This crushes the 1st amendment, freedom of the press, freedom of speech.

(U) decentralized terrorist movement (U//FOUO)
A movement of groups or individuals who pursue shared ideological goals through tactics of leaderless resistance independent of any larger terrorist organization.

- Any individual can be branded a terrorist, just for having ideological goals. He doesn’t even have to be part of a terrorist group.

(U) direct action (U//FOUO)
Lawful or unlawful acts of civil disobedience ranging from protests to property destruction or acts of violence. This term is most often used by single-issue or anarchist extremists to describe their activities.

-It says LAWFUL ACTS of CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE AND PROTEST is TERRORISM!

(U) hacktivism (U//FOUO) (A portmanteau of “hacking” and “activism.”)
The use of cyber technologies to achieve a political end, or technology-enabled political or social activism. Hacktivism might include website defacements, denial-of-service attacks, hacking into the target’s network to introduce malicious software (malware), or information theft.

-The first sentence translates that using a technology for politics, like reporting political news on the internet, is terrorism!

(U) leaderless resistance (U//FOUO)
A strategy that stresses the importance of individuals and small cells acting independently and anonymously outside formalized organizational structures to enhance operational security and avoid detection. It is used by many types of domestic extremists.

-Again, any random person can be called an ‘individual cell’ and be branded a terrorist.

(U) militia movement (U//FOUO)
A rightwing extremist movement composed of groups or individuals who adhere to an antigovernment ideology often incorporating various conspiracy theories. Members oppose most federal and state laws, regulations, and authority (particularly firearms laws and regulations) and often conduct paramilitary training designed to resist perceived government interference in their activities or to overthrow the U.S. overnment through the use of violence. (also: citizens militia, unorganized militia)

-So people who believe in the 2nd amendment are terrorists, even though it says we have the right to bear arms and form militias.

(U) patriot movement (U//FOUO)
A term used by rightwing extremists to link their beliefs to those commonly associated with the American Revolution. The patriot movement primarily comprises violent antigovernment groups such as militias and sovereign citizens. (also: Christian patriots, patriot group, Constitutionalists, Constitutionist)

-If you think the American Revolution was a good thing, or you believe in the Constitution, you are a terrorist.

(U) sovereign citizen movement (U//FOUO)
A rightwing extremist movement composed of groups or individuals who reject the notion of U.S. citizenship. They claim to follow only what they believe to be God’s law or common law and the original 10 amendments (Bill of Rights) to the U.S. Constitution. They believe they are emancipated from all other responsibilities associated with being a U.S. citizen, such as paying taxes, possessing a driver’s license and motor vehicle registration, or holding a social security number. They generally do not recognize federal or state government authority or laws. Several sovereign citizen groups in the United States produce fraudulent documents for their members in lieu of legitimate government-issued forms of identification. Members have been known to advocate or engage in criminal activity and plot acts of violence and terrorism in an attempt to advance their extremist goals. They often target government officials and law enforcement. (also: state citizens, freemen, preamble citizens, common law citizens)

-Again if you believe in the Bill of Rights and the Constitution, which are the supreme laws of America… you are a terrorist.

(U) tax resistance movement (U//FOUO)
Groups or individuals who vehemently believe taxes violate their constitutional rights. Among their beliefs are that wages are not income, that paying income taxes is voluntary, and that the 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which allowed Congress to levy taxes on income, was not properly ratified. Members have been known to advocate or engage in criminal activity and plot acts of violence and terrorism in an attempt to advance their extremist goals. They often target government entities such as the Internal Revenue Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. (also: tax protest movement, tax freedom movement, antitax movement)

-Taxes do violate your rights, wages are not income, paying income taxes is voluntary as per IRS code, and the 16th amendment DID NOT receive enough votes to be properly ratified. So if you know the truth and believe it, you are a terrorist.

Read it yourself