July 22, 2011

On 22 July 2011, PIR received from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) a “Warrant of Seizure” issued by the US Federal District Court for the Western District of New York on the same date. The warrant is based on an affidavit by an agent of the DHS, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and orders the seizure and civil forfeiture of five domain names, three in .COM and two in .ORG (ralphlauren-polos.org and toryburchsoutlets.org). Pursuant to the instructions of the DHS, PIR transferred the registrations to a specified IP address.

The .ORG domains now resolve to a web site established by the DHS with a message that they have been the subject of seizure. The legal authority for the seizure are 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.