Hacker News Reader

Comment by bobwaycott | Hacker News Reader

This is just insane to me. At what point is domain seizure increasing or defending homeland security? I cannot see where these seizures are at all part of DHS's stated goals when the department was created.

How is it that our government agencies continue to limitlessly aggrandize their power & reach with no end in sight and, apparently, no recourse or prevention? Perhaps we need to return to constitutional amendments protecting the People and the states from unfettered power grabs--such as an amendment that expressly prohibits a federal agency of the executive branch from increasing its reach without due congressional process & said increase being legislated and passed by both houses, like any other law.

I'd like to believe it's an idea that liberals, conservatives, independents, and anyone else can actually agree on. But ... we're talking about people here. And politics.

View on HN

DHS was created by consolidating several existing agencies. One of them is ICE, which has traditionally had a role fighting counterfeit goods and copyright infringement. Yes, it's bad that they suck so badly at their job -- but this isn't a "power grab"

yes, although the power aspects are important from a political perspective: DHS as an organization is weak and unpopular right now.

> DHS as an organization is weak and unpopular right now.

Gee. I wonder why.

Uh,

I keep hearing the ICE-is-tasked-with-counterfeiting-so-this-isn't-a-power-grab argument.

Whatever the merits of the general argument, you need to find a different term for you say it isn't. Because it certainly is a power grab by the normal use of the phrase.

We haven't seen mass domain seizures previously and this ability certainly is power. It's been done with dubious legality, dubious constitutionality and just dubiously, so it's effectively a grab.

If the Department of Agriculture started arresting people for using too many pesticides in their home gardens, it would be a power-grab even though the department sure-enough is tasked with regulating agriculture.

How about "The ICE is tasked with policing counterfeiting so this isn't overstepping the bounds of their jurisdiction?" Quibbling over the words "power grab" seems rather pointless.

The summary of an article can matter a lot these days. If someone says "TL;DR - not a power grab", it may make someone who would otherwise react against it do nothing.

This is a significant increase in state power. I hardly oppose any summary which gives any other impression.

You meant heartily.

Yes I did ;<

The government is doing this because the record labels are lobbying them to do so. While the incompetence of the agencies in question are laughable, the enemy isn't DHS as much as the lobbyists from the recording industry who are increasingly talking the government into spending tax dollars to enforce their civil rights, which they should have to continue funding on their own.

Writing this off as a government power grab is not seeing the forest through the trees.

> who are increasingly talking the government into spending tax dollars to enforce their civil rights, which they should have to continue funding on their own.

That doesn't excuse govt, or folks who think that govt should have such powers.

> Writing this off as a government power grab is not seeing the forest through the trees.

It's not a govt power grab so much as it is yet another abuse of govt power.

And to think that many people think that govt should have more power, apparently on the "if we just give them enough power, they'll start behaving" theory.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com