February 1, 2012

On 1 February 2012, PIR received two seizure warrants from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), issued by the US District Courts for the Southern District of New York and the District of Maryland The warrants were based on affidavits by agents of the DHS, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and order the seizure and civil forfeiture of four domain names:

• sports95.org,
• nflsport.org
• needjerseys.org
• thanksjerseys.org

Pursuant to the instructions of the DHS, PIR transferred the registrations to specified IP addresses.
The .ORG domains now resolve to web sites established by the DHS with a message that they have been the subject of seizure. The legal authority for the seizure is two sections of the US Statutes, Criminal Code, that provide for seizure and forfeiture of property used in violation of the criminal provisions of copyright and trademark law.