Thin lines

David Post writes in his The Question Is Whether Kafkaesque Or Orwellian Is The Appropriate Adjective post about a technique the government has employed to curb unlawful material found on the internet. Essentially it is a "domain name seizure", where the government, given probable cause, is allowed to pull the plug on any website without prior warning to the website's host. Post's intended audience, I suppose, is anyone who has the time to question the government and its actions, whether highly publicized or not. His credibility is unrecognizable. Post claims this act to be "nightmarish." He fails to add any evidence to his claim and his logic gives way to emotion.

Scenario: a man is driving erratically on a freeway. He passes a cop and is immediately pulled over. While speaking to the cop, he slurs his words together. This is probable cause for a cop to ask you to step out of you vehicle in order to determine whether or not you are fit to drive. In the event you are arrested, you will have a trial, your guaranteed due process. In the case of domain name seizure, this seems to be a similar thing. You are not being declared guilty once your domain name is seized and your website disappears. You are simply being "arrested". Post argues that this seizure is an atrocity, but it is nothing more than a cop arresting a drunk driver who reeks of alcohol. They will still get their due process and be let free if they are innocent. I think domain name seizures are okay, as long as there is probable cause (obvious cause, really) to their unlawful nature.