This T-Shirt Has Been Seized
from the the-eagles-have-landed dept
– E. F. Schumacher
– Unknown
For the feds, it’s not enough to simply seize domain names without warning or due process—they want to make sure everyone knows the website operators were breaking the law, even if that has yet to be proven in court. That’s why every domain that gets seized ends up redirecting to one of these dramatic warning pages, replete with the eagle-emblazoned badges of the federal agencies involved. You know the one I mean:
I thought eagles were solitary birds—but apparently they’ll flock anywhere the RIAA points. At least that seemed to be the case with the hip-hop blog Dajaz1, which was treated to a year of Promethean pecking while the court waited patiently for the RIAA to fail to produce any evidence.
And that’s just one of over 700 websites seized without due process. The first round of seizures, commencing the so-called Operation In Our Sites (which I suggest renaming to Operation Motherfucking Eagles), was announced from Disney headquarters, possibly by a tyrannical Mickey Mouse, but more likely by ICE Director John Morton sporting a dumb grin over the presence of whatever movie stars Disney managed to rustle up for the event. It’s Chinatown Hollywood. The only place where eagles and mice get along.
To commemorate the fruits of this alliance, I created the Seized Tee for Techdirt’s new Insider Shop. Government regulations prevent us from directly replicating agency badges, but that proved to be a plus, since I think I have drastically improved them in terms of both clarity of purpose and, more importantly, overall eagle-ness, which was clearly a prominent factor in their original design:
Buying the Seized Tee also gets you access to the Techdirt Crystal Ball for one year, two First Word/Last Word credits, and an Insider Badge on your profile and comments. Wear it with pride, and when people ask you about it, be sure to tell them that this kind of government censorship is a real thing that is happening as we speak, and it’s a problem that’s only going to get worse if it goes unchecked. Eagles do not beget doves.
Filed Under: cwf, eagles, eagles eagles, eagles eagles eagles, forfeiture, ice, more eagles, rtb, seized, seizures, t-shirts
Comments on “This T-Shirt Has Been Seized”
Parody
I think you could have hewed closer to the original designs, but I’ve added this to my shopping list nevertheless.
So that’s what the element I hid is for: first/last word.
Sorry. I found the size too large and felt it intrusive, so I element blocked it.
Despite this, enjoying this. It’s fun to see this stuff. 🙂
Re: Re:
I agree, the first word is way too big, and in order to re-direct the conversation you really need to be able to reply directly to it. A lot of the runaway posts happen in the first 3-4 comments and then runs into a 5-10 level reply tree that can be 100+ replies. If you want to redirect the conversation you need to conversation to happen at the first word element and get people engaged BEFORE they make it to the troll post and start feeding them.
Re: Re: 5-10 level reply tree that can be 100+ replies
ALSO:
It would be very handy to be able to collapse threads at any point the “level” deepens. This would allow the reader to hide subsections of the “reply tree” to more easily follow a discussion, or at least the parts that interest the reader. You could even do some tracking about where readers collapse trees to provide some insight on how discussions are consumed and where discussions get “thread-jacked”.
Re: Re: Re: 5-10 level reply tree that can be 100+ replies
^^This^^
Oh god yes please!
Kind of Like the Shirt
I kind of like the shirt but I don’t care for the phrase under the second eagle. So I would not be able to ware it around the house as I have 2 small kids who are starting to read and I really don’t want them to be picking up on those words yet.
Re: Kind of Like the Shirt
I concur. Something I’d like to wear to work but profanity isn’t going to fly like an eagle even on “casual fridays”.
Re: Re: Kind of Like the Shirt
I did consider this, and I apologize to everyone who feels they can’t wear this t-shirt — but the flipside is that quite a lot of people have cited the objectionable eagle as their favourite part of the shirt and the thing that spurred them to buy it. Maybe at some point we can release PG version — in the mean time, perhaps the DMCA t-shirt is a good alternative? 😀
Re: Re: Re: Kind of Like the Shirt
quite a lot of people have cited the objectionable eagle as their favourite part of the shirt and the thing that spurred them to buy it
That’s what got me to buy it, best part of the shirt imo
Re: Re: Kind of Like the Shirt
I personally think tossing around profanity just because you can is childish.
I won’t say that in the right context some profanity can’t be funny but in this one…No.
Re: Kind of Like the Shirt
i wouldn’t worry about it, the very first time they see a youtube comments section, you’ve lost the battle forever.
Re: Kind of Like the Shirt
think of it this way:
you can teach the rugrats a valuable life-lesson in self-censorship; its the amerikan way, after all !
a couple inches of black electrical tape over the offensive words (sic), and you can prepare the li’l babbits for a life of degradation, humiliation, and abject helplessness that is our lot…
good luck ! ! !
hee hee hee
ho ho ho
ha ha ha
ak ak ak
(…or, maybe, i don’t know, teach an infinitely more valuable life-lesson in using one’s own judgment, appropriate behavior in different contexts, and how silly -you know- *some* people (not us!) are about ‘bad’ words…)
art guerrilla
aka ann archy
eof
Re: Re: Kind of Like the Shirt
If you want to teach your kids to use words like motherfucker, that’s your prerogative, but there’s no need to mock people who choose not to.
Re: Re: Re: Kind of Like the Shirt
WHOOSH
Re: Re: Re: Kind of Like the Shirt
no, i only mock motherfuckers who have their heads buried deeply enough in the sand to think you’ll be able to filter ANYTHING from a generation that grows up as digital natives. man, are they in for the shock of their motherfucking lives.
Yob tvoyu mat
Re: Kind of Like the Shirt
As (somewhat) common as the language is today, it would be kind of rough for the little kids and would probably not be acceptable for casual Friday. Though I admit, I am grossly tempted to pick one up anyway.
Perhaps a future/alternate version could replace “Motherfucking” with “[REDACTED]”, or just an asterisked version of the word?
Re: Re: Kind of Like the Shirt
Or we could follow the Die Hard tv edit method and call it the MELONFARMING EAGLE
Re: Re: Re: Kind of Like the Shirt
Perhaps ‘GORRAM EAGLE’ instead? Not only a good nonsense word substitution, but a nod to a great show.
Re: Re: Re:2 Kind of Like the Shirt
MOTHERFRAKKING EAGLE
Re: Re: Re: Kind of Like the Shirt
“I have had it with these monkey fighting eagles on this Monday through Friday shirt!”
Re: Re: Kind of Like the Shirt
Agree. Was considering purchase before seeing that. Poor choice there although I did laugh when I read it…
And that’s just one of over 700 websites seized without due process.
Sorry, but that’s idiotic, backwards-working, Mike-won’t-explain-why-piracy-is-not-OK-because-he-really-thinks-it’s-great thinking.
You can’t name one site–even one–where a court said due process had been violated. Nor has due process ever actually been violated in the seizures.
That’s just complete idiocy, and you know it. And now you’re capitalizing on your lies and manipulations? You guys are *absolutely* disgusting. Seriously.
I can say this with heart-felt certainty: You guys are disgusting opportunists.
Prove to me that even one site had it’s due process rights violated. You cannot.
Re: Re:
You mean like dajaz1 that everyone and there brother admits was deemed a legit site a year after it was taken away and not allowed to fight it (you know that whole due process thing)…but you’re right, they never explain anything on this site, or maybe you just don’t know how to read…
Re: Re: Re:
They never said the site was legit. They declined to prosecute. Stop hanging onto that one site like it represents the other 700. It doesn’t. Just call a spade a spade and stop being so completely disingenuous.
Is there even one part of Techdirt that is honest? I haven’t seen it. It’s pandering to the dregs of the internet for profit. And it’s done at the expense of the artists that you all rip off for sport.
Mike, I’m talking about you. Any place, any time. Stop running away. Stop making excuses.
Re: Re: Re: Re:
And if it was not a legit site, why would they not prosecute?? And whether or not it was legit doesn’t even matter, you asked about where they ignored due process. They did that there, or are you saying that taking there site away for a year without allowing them any chance to fight it was not ignoring due process? And I believe you asked for one site–even one–
Re: Re: Re: Re:
And if it was not a legit site, why would they not prosecute?? And whether or not it was legit doesn’t even matter, you asked about where they ignored due process. They did that there, or are you saying that taking there site away for a year without allowing them any chance to fight it was not ignoring due process? And I believe you asked for one site–even one–
Re: Re: Re:2 Re:
Doh, should really fix the submission so if you accidentally click the submit button twice, it doesn’t double post
Re: Re: Re: Re:
“Just call a spade a spade”
Bigot! /S
Makes about as much since as your argument. The Gov tramples due process when ever it suits them. To say otherwise makes you either a complete idiot, or a Troll…. or perhaps both…
Re: Re: Re: Re:
Pretty tough call out from, who? Oh, right… “Anonymous Coward”.
Easier to be a Keyboard Rambo when you have no semblance of an identity huh?
Re: Re: Re: Re:
So the government should be allowed to just take any website away for a year and never prosecute, never apologize, never pay repercussions, and never suffer any consequences?
Excuse me, but what’s your URL again?
Re: Re: Re: Re:
Gentleman, we found our Operation Motherfucking Eagles agent infiltrated in TechDirt. BEWARE MIKE, YOU ARE ABOUT TO BE SEIZED!
Re: Re:
“It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his job depends on not understanding it.” – Upton Sinclair
Re: Re:
Dajaz1.com
Enough said.
Re: Re:
Who’s going to gun this sunuvabitch down? All he does is derail shit and spout the same nonsensical claptrap every motherfucking eagle of a time.
Just a reminder...
Eagles may soar, but weasels don’t get sucked into jet engines.
And that’s just one of over 700 websites seized without due process.
Sorry, but that’s idiotic, backwards-working, Mike-won’t-explain-why-piracy-is-not-OK-because-he-really-thinks-it’s-great thinking.
You can’t name one site–even one–where a court said due process had been violated. Nor has due process ever actually been violated in the seizures.
That’s just complete idiocy, and you know it. And now you’re capitalizing on your lies and manipulations? You guys are *absolutely* disgusting. Seriously.
I can say this with heart-felt certainty: You guys are disgusting opportunists.
Prove to me that even one site had it’s due process rights violated. You cannot.
Re: Brilliant!
Indeed! If there were no witnesses, then there is now crime.
Also, no body == no murder! ;-P
Does it work this way in your church, or only with your lawyers?
[/troll-hunting]
Re: Re: Brilliant!
Give me the word and I will rip the guy apart 🙂 I hate doing it, but it’s sort of a last resort.
Re: Re:
Just in case you missed Tim K’s response to your rant the first time…
“You mean like dajaz1 that everyone and there brother admits was deemed a legit site a year after it was taken away and not allowed to fight it (you know that whole due process thing)…but you’re right, they never explain anything on this site, or maybe you just don’t know how to read…”
Re: Re:
If your idiotic interpretation of “proof” that any of these sites has been denied due process is the admission by a court of the same government doing the denying of due process, then I fear that you shall never be satisfied.
On the other hand, this is a wonderful demonstration of an appeal to an “appeal to authority” fallacy as I’ve ever seen….
Re: We can and have!
Look at the site seized overseas, his entire site and servers was taken. the site was legit, a few people was trading movies, he had nothing to do with! But the u.s. government took everything he owns and wants to put him in bars for 20 plus years. So if someone goes into your business and does something wrong, that just means the government can take the business from you along with all your money but you have no right to protest or sue? your insane dude!!!!!
Re: Re:
Dajaz1 is a fairly clear cut example where due process has been violated. http://www.techdirt.com/blog/?company=dajaz1
The site was taken down for a year, without an opportunity to argue beforehand, and the DOJ never provided evidence nor filed charges. The claim was dismissed, but if a year’s worth of censorship is considered acceptable, then something is rotten in the state of due process.
I wouldn’t be surprised if MegaUpload is actually guilty, but that’s another example where the feds have done a bang-up job procedurally. Also confirmed by court: http://abovethelaw.com/2012/04/megaupload-trial-may-never-happen-because-the-fbi-apparently-doesnt-understand-extradition-rules/
Re: Re: Re:
Dajaz1 is a fairly clear cut example where due process has been violated. http://www.techdirt.com/blog/?company=dajaz1
The site was taken down for a year, without an opportunity to argue beforehand, and the DOJ never provided evidence nor filed charges. The claim was dismissed, but if a year’s worth of censorship is considered acceptable, then something is rotten in the state of due process.
Whether or not that violates due process is a legal argument. Please make an actual legal argument citing the actual law. You haven’t, and I suspect, can’t.
PS It’s hilarious how you guys “report” any post that you don’t agree with. What a bunch of nonthinking sissies.
Re: Re:
I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again; who’s going to gun this sunuvabitch down? All he does is derail shit and spout the same nonsensical claptrap every motherfucking eagle of a time.
They never said the site was legit. They declined to prosecute. Stop hanging onto that one site like it represents the other 700. It doesn’t. Just call a spade a spade and stop being so completely disingenuous.
Is there even one part of Techdirt that is honest? I haven’t seen it. It’s pandering to the dregs of the internet for profit. And it’s done at the expense of the artists that you all rip off for sport.
Mike, I’m talking about you. Any place, any time. Stop running away. Stop making excuses.
Re: A puppet on both hands I see.
In the next lesson, learn how to get them to say different words, rather than repeating each other…
Re: Re: A puppet on both hands I see.
At least he’s not demanding a one word “Yes or No” answer this time.
He expanding his vocabulary. Progress?
Re: Re: Re: A puppet on both hands I see.
Might be. Bonus: while working on their puppet code, the practice in logical thought will hopefully do them good.
Re: Re: Re:2 A puppet on both hands I see.
Oh please, do you really think that mafiaa folks have the tech knowledge to write a troll bot (even a bad one). Its obviously contracted out (likely to people who are laughing about how they cheaped the job while on their way to the bank)
Re: Re:
Don’t be angry, you’ll graduate from preschool eventually.
Re: Re:
I’m really sorry, Mr. Lowery.
Re: Re:
What did I tell you? Never, ever get these trolls wet! They’ll keep on multiplying!
Re: Re:
I really enjoy seeing how your comments keep getting flagged. You’re not supposed to disagree, you know.
Re: Re: Re:
It’s not the disagreement, it’s the one trick pony nature of his disagreement, and the fact that he is always off point.
Re: Re: Re:
I really enjoy seeing how your comments keep getting flagged. You’re not supposed to disagree, you know.
Yep, they can’t stand it when someone says something they don’t agree with. They must censor it immediately. The irony is delicious.
Re: Re: Re: Re:
Almost as delicious as your stupidity. THE COMMENTS ARE NOT CENSORED. They have merely been reported. Now, to point out the difference yet again. Censored means completely not able to be seen. Reported means the comments are still there and are still able to keep being posted by the same idiot AC. Except you have to click on the comment to view it.
Censored = unseen/doesn’t exist at all/wouldn’t be able to even post
Reported = still viewable/still there/still able to keep posting the same BS you and your other AC retarded friends keep posting
I swear, sometimes you’re so fucking stupid it’s hard to believe you’re still alive. Figured you’d have forgotten how to breathe at some point and that’d be that.
Re: Re: Re: Re:
Whether or not this is censorship is a legal argument. Please make an actual legal argument citing the actual law. You haven’t, and I suspect, can’t.
PS It’s hilarious how you whine “censorship” to any post that a private party on his private property refuses to promote to your level of entitlement. What a bunch of nonthinking sissies.
Re: Re:
I dunno, considering how many artists have come here and even agreed with what much of Techdirt has said.
Can you really read, though? I suppose lapdogs can’t.
Kinda neat
Put it on the list. The DMCA T-shirt is a buy as soon as budget drops some coin in my cup.
Tyrannical Mickey Mouse
Tyrannical Mickey Mouth
The only way this could get more hilarious is if it was a digital tee and it changed from Mickey Mouse to the Seized image (only with less sweary).
Clever
Im all for the crystal ball and paying to be able to get extra Techdirt. It keeps advertising on the website to a minimum. You also have a very good advertising vehicle here using the articles to the point is this case I almost fell for it being an article.
Quick tip to you lovely folks at Techdirt, use the article advertising sparingly unless it is an announcement 🙂
Keep up the good work and fighting the good fight,
Wally
T-shirt: Techdirt best trolls anywhere.
T-shirt: Techdirt BOB no not that Bob.
Thats all I got. Must work now….
New shirt idea...
You really need to make a shirt…”Right Haven…how to do everything wrong when thinking you did everything right…”
Who do you sue?
In cases like this,
Who do you sue to get the site back and malicious persecution??
The RIAA/MPAA or the feds/DEA/WHO do you ASK for your rights??
Force it to trial..
Once you get a win, Then Go for the money LOST..
I still get a Interesting feeling,that SOMETHING is trying to force our gov. entities into BAD solutions, and having them get SUE’d, to make them bankrupt.
Also sad about the language.
I’d love to wear this shirt around to raise awareness of the important issues about property rights and seizures, but a shirt with overt profanity would limit me to wearing it in settings and social circles where that message is already well entrenched. I don’t really have a desire to earn “edgy” points by wearing a profane message in a group where the core issue is noncontroversial. Oh well; at least this post did bring the rest of the Insider Store to my attention.
This figures. I see a lot of comments making excuses why they’re not going to buy the t shirt. Pretty much confirm what I already knew, you all are by-and-large cheap.
Re: Re:
By not wanting to get written up at work, or exposing young children or church groups to profanity? I do hope you were being /s.
Mother Fracking
Mother Frelling
BSG
Farscape
Re: Response to: Anonymous Coward on Aug 17th, 2012 @ 1:48pm
Change it to frakking eagle and you have a sale (if it’s reasonable, I haven’t checked the price).
Re: Re:
Mother Parker! Where have you been?
Show us your tweets!
Or get ICED!
When I get paid, this, the DMCA tee and USB are all going to be winging their way to me..
Pseudo LEO Badges!
… now its just a matter of time, before some enterprising screenshot artist gets the idea to do a conversion jobby for twitter user out there in the wild and creates twitter badges or icons with those, are all these GPL’d too?
> Thinks I’ll keep my eyes peeled.
Re: Pseudo LEO Badges!
As with most Techdirt stuff, we haven’t actually bothered putting them under a specific license like the GPL or CC — largely because we think it’s annoying to even have to do so. Technically we retain the copyrights, but as far as I’m concerned the art can be treated as public domain. If it starts popping up in Twitter badges, that’d be awesome 🙂 And, if anyone wants access to the original vector working files, for modification or for large-scale printing or anything like that, just drop me an email.
How about a t-shirt in bright yellow?
TECHDIRT
The home of Yellow Journalism
I bet you could sell a few of those.
Why did you drop the CwF thing? Was it worn out? Gone state? Another internet buzzterm buried?
Re: Re:
Apparently someone doesn’t understand what CwF means….
Re: Re: Re:
Operation Motherfucking Eagles agents are paid not to act, not to think ;D
Here’s an idea. Rename the eagle badge to ‘Eagle of Injustice.’
Why? How about this?
Why? How about this?
Re:
Years later all the sites that were seized were returned with absolutely nothing incriminating found or consequences.
And this was somehow hailed as a “victory” for anti-piracy. Because if you confiscate something that had nothing criminal going on, hold onto it for years, decide after all that time it’s perfectly fine, all the nothing and jack shit you did somehow means that your lack of effort gets to be counted as a victory.
Achieving, doing nothing is a victory to you guys. And you wonder why no one takes you remotely seriously.