Don't be overzealous on Internet copyright limits

[Commentary] Civil forfeiture laws allow the government to seize property and assets connected to a crime without the benefit of a trial. It's a controversial practice even when used to confiscate cash, guns and planes related to something like drug smuggling. It essentially sidesteps the usual rights to due process, taking away a suspect's assets before that person can defend him or herself in a full trial. Critics say that in these copyright cases, with no threat of imminent physical danger, it's an unnecessarily aggressive approach that risks harming sites with otherwise legitimate value. "They're taking a very blunt instrument designed for the seizure of contraband to take down parts of the Internet," said Corynne McSherry, intellectual property director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a San Francisco digital civil liberties group.