"Today's arrest sends a clear message to website operators who mistakenly believe it's worth the risk to take copyrighted programming and portray it as their own," ICE Director John Morton said in a .

Since June of last year, ICE has been vigorously shutting down Internet domains suspected of infringing on the rights of copyright holders under an initiative it calls "Operation In Our Sites." After a domain is seized, visitors to it see a splash screen informing them of the seizure by the federal government.

The program has been a controversial one because some civil libertarians see it as a violation of First Amendment rights. "This misguided intellectual property enforcement effort is causing serious collateral damage to free speech rights," asserts Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) Intellectual Property Director Corynne McSherry. "These domain seizures should cease unless and until the government can fix the First Amendment flaws inherent in the program."

Opponents of the program argue that its targets are not receiving due process of law. "Valid claims of copyright infringement can be pursued in a manner that allows the accused parties to defend themselves," . "The unilateral seizure of domain names without a court ruling--which obstructs access to all of a website's content--is improper and should be strongly opposed by free speech advocates everywhere."

However, at least one federal judge hasn't bought the EFF's reasoning. In a case decided earlier this month involving two domains seized by ICE, that the First Amendment isn't violated by such seizures.