City of London Police Take Down Proxy Service Over Piracy Concerns

Mr_Silver writes TorrentFreak is reporting that the City of London Police (a private police force in government-backed livery with an authority that does not go beyond the corporate-controlled City of London area — so not to be confused with the Metropolitan Police) has seized control of a number of domains including Immunicity, a general proxy server that was set up as a censorship circumvention tool. This appears to be their next step after placing banner adverts on websites.

Comments

Christmas

[Thanshin]

I don't want a lot for Christmas
There is just one thing I need
I don't care about the presents
Underneath the Christmas tree

I just want them for my own
More than they could ever know
Make my wish come true
All I want for Christmas is
My own bloody private police force!

Let's see if I get this right...

[thieh]

The police, who wants to fight piracy which is claimed to be happening by the corporations, go bust servers with neither warrants nor court orders. What exactly are making these claims legit enough to skip due process? Or is due process some sort of privilege that we shouldn't expect them in the first place?

Re:Let's see if I get this right...

[infolation]

Only if you read the summary, and not the actual reported news. They arrested the proxy server owner. That needs a warrant of arrest. There's no 'skipping due process' for the police, or the charges don't stand when the person arrives in court.

PIPCU arrest Nottingham man believed to be running proxy server

The Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit has arrested a man in Nottingham on suspicion of running an ‘umbrella’ website providing access to other websites which have been subject to legal blocking orders.

The 20-year-old man was questioned by detectives from the City of London Police unit at a local police station before later being released on bail.

The operation, supported by the Federation Against Copyright Theft, uncovered evidence of the proxy server providing access to 36 other websites that had been blocked for offering illegal or infringing content. The domain names of these sites have been voluntarily handed to police and the related web pages now show a police warning banner.

The arrest is part of the City of London Police unit’s ongoing drive to clamp down on websites providing access to illegal or infringing content, known as Operation Creative. Last week it was announced that PIPCU are replacing advertising on copyright infringing websites with official force banners, warning the user that the site is currently under criminal investigation.

Re:Rome would be so proud

[Anonymous Coward]

The City of London Police (who are proper police officers and subject to the same rules etc as any other officer and not a 'private' force) have a remit from the government to tackle certain specific types of crime on a national/pan national basis.
They have a unit that is responsible for this sort of stuff so it does not surprise me that they have done this.

Not a private police force.

[Anonymous Coward]

I know it's bad form to provide accurate information on Slashdot but the City of London police are not private at all. Indeed the Wikipedia page linked to in the summary states that it's a govt entity on the very first page.

I apologise in advance for being accurate.

Not a private police force

[Richard_at_work]

The City of London Police Force is not a private police force, its a public body that receives government funding and is the same as any other police force in the UK, bar the fact that it doesn't have an elected police commissioner. It answers to Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary just like any other police force. The reason its separate from the Metropolitan Police Force is nothing more than a historical curiosity rather than anything to create conspiracy theories about.

There does seem to be an attempt here on Slashdot, in this story and past stories, to cast the City of London Police in a false light.

Regarding the authority "issue" - the City of London Police seizing a domain name is no different to the Metropolitan Police seizing it, the jurisdictional "issues" are the same. The reason the City of London Police are doing this a lot is because they are highly specialised in economic crime detection, investigation and enforcement, so combating criminal level copyright infringement is in fact one of their specialities.

Re:Not a private police force

[EmperorArthur]

Each body or organisation, whether unincorporated or incorporated, whose premises are within the City of London may appoint a number of voters based on the number of workers it employs.

That's straight from the Wikipedia entry on the City of London.

Here on Slashdot we often talk about corporate person hood. The City of London is what happens when you jump straight to letting those corporations vote. When the government is by the corporations for the corporations it's not surprising that the police force is also a tool of the corporations.

Re:Not a private police force

[Xest]

"The reason the City of London Police are doing this a lot is because they are highly specialised in economic crime detection, investigation and enforcement, so combating criminal level copyright infringement is in fact one of their specialities."

Yet they missed all the genuinely criminal bankers on their front door step, you know, libor, exchange rate manipulation and many others?

City of London police should be sticking to the City of London yet they're sticking their nose in everywhere as if they have some form of universal jurisdiction. Similarly they have consistently avoided investigation over many legitimate claims of corruption.

Whatever their supposed status, one things for sure and that's that they're more corrupt than any other police force in the UK by a long shot, and no one seems to be able to touch them for it to sort the problem.

They really need moving under the met where there is at least some degree of oversight, even if it's a long way from perfect. Right now I can see exactly why people call them a private police force - because that's exactly how they act and are treated.

Re:Not a private police force

[Camael]

Regarding the authority "issue" - the City of London Police seizing a domain name is no different to the Metropolitan Police seizing it, the jurisdictional "issues" are the same. The reason the City of London Police are doing this a lot is because they are highly specialised in economic crime detection, investigation and enforcement, so combating criminal level copyright infringement is in fact one of their specialities.

The problem however is the legality of the very act of the police in seizing domain names. Apparently, they do not have the power to do so. Instead, they request the "cooperation" of registrars who are threatened with possible legal sanctions in the same breath. Here is an excerpt of one of their letters :-

“Suspension of the domain(s) is intended to prevent further crime. Where possible we request that domain suspension(s) are made within 48 hours of receipt of this Alert. In respect of the information provided by us, we respectfully ask you to consider your liability and the wider public interest should those services be allowed to continue.”

I don't think you should be comfortable with the police making threats to force registrars to shut down online services in the absence of any court orders, findings of liability or any judgment that the online service is in fact against the law.

Re:Not a private police force

[Mr_Silver]

The City of London Police Force is not a private police force, its a public body that receives government funding and is the same as any other police force in the UK, bar the fact that it doesn't have an elected police commissioner.

It's far more insidious than just the fact it doesn't have an elected police commissioner and it most definitely is not the "same as any other police force in the UK".

http://www.theguardian.com/com...

Re:Not a private police force

[AmiMoJo]

Regarding the authority "issue" - the City of London Police seizing a domain name is no different to the Metropolitan Police seizing it, the jurisdictional "issues" are the same. The reason the City of London Police are doing this a lot is because they are highly specialised in economic crime detection, investigation and enforcement, so combating criminal level copyright infringement is in fact one of their specialities.

You have not been paying attention. Their usual modus operandi is to send threatening letters to the domain registrar because they have no legal authority for the seizure. They usually arrest the site operator just to put pressure on them - even if they drop the chargers later there is no come-back for them, and the victim has to explain to his employer who he wasn't at work for a few days and his name is all over the press.

Go read their press release. They crime he is accused of doesn't even seem to be a crime. The blockade was a civil court order directed at a small number of ISPs, not a general law that everyone must follow. I really doubt there will be a trial, let alone a conviction. The CoLP have got what their corporate masters want now - domain seized and shut down, operator's life made hell and a clear message sent to anyone else thinking of annoying them.

Re:Nor Private Police

[serviscope_minor]

The City of London Police is overseen by an elected body and funded through taxes.

Yeah elected. By the local corporations.

Re:Rome would be so proud

[mindwhip]

Wow... where is the option to vote the summary and TFA as troll?

Seriously. They full of misrepresentation (CoLP is just another area force like all the others in the UK. CoLP is NOT a private force. The fact that corporations vote in CoL is irrelevant here as voters have no direct influence on the force - policy comes from national level. CoLP are national specialists on this kind of 'soft' crime and are the force responsible for national level investigations of this type. Seizures would have needed to have been court sanctioned/ordered and as is often the case with ongoing investigations where the details would be sealed until said investigation was completed. The fact that large scale copyright infringement is a crime was made by the elected national government and not by the CoLP.)

Wilfully continuing to aid criminals after you are aware of providing such aid (except on threat of personal safety) is in itself a crime in the UK.

ICANN etc have operations in the UK and are therefore have legal responsibility/requirement to comply with such court orders in the country they operate in. This is identical to the many cases where a USA court orders extradition for some minor thing on a non US company director just because they have a sales/import office with 5 staff at some container port in Florida.

Re:Corporate Cops, eh?

[AC-x]

Do they have a Corporate Congress yet?

Yes, corporations with premises in the City of London are given a number of votes in local elections based on the number of employees they have.

Re:Corporate Cops, eh?

[donscarletti]

The City of London Police have their powers, policy and jurisdiction defined by the Police Act of 1996, the same as the Metropolitan Police. Their powers come from the House of Commons, not the Guildhall.