Sunday, April 17, 2011

A Workaround For Domain Name Seizures?

Yes, Sir!
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A group of anonymous developers have concocted a clever antidote to Government domain seizures. MAFIAA Fire is a Firefox add-on that automatically redirects a user to a website’s alternative domain name if the original domain was seized.

MAFIAA Fire exploits the fact that when a domain is seized, although it appears that the Government has taken control of the entire website, they have really only gained control over the domain name. The Government redirects the domain name to a Government IP address and website rather than the IP address containing the original website. When a user types in a seized domain name, such as rapgodfathers.com (seized last November), their browser is not directed to the original website, it is directed to a site containing the famous DHS/ICE seal.

If a user types in the IP address or an alternative domain name for the site, the website content would still be accessible. The problem is that users don’t know the IP address or alternative domain name, they only know the original domain name.

MAFIAA Fire solves that problem by maintaining a list of original domain names, as well as alternative domain names, so users will be directed to the alternative site if the original is seized by the Government. There is virtually nothing the Government can do to stop this because it all happens independent of the Domain Name Server it uses to seize domains. The FAQ for MAFIAA Fire explains:

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