All tobacco products are harmful. Whether they are bought legitimately from a retailer or illegally on the black market, all tobacco products contain over 4,000 chemicals, at least 60 of which are known to cause cancer.

Illegal tobacco products are cigarettes, hand rolling tobacco or niche products (such as beedis/bidis and sheesha/shisha) that have been smuggled, bootlegged or are counterfeit.

Smuggled

These are foreign brands brought into the UK illegally to be sold on the black market. Things to look out for include one or more of the following

  • Foreign brand names such as Raquel and Jin Ling
  • Cheaper prices less than 3.50 for a pack of 20
  • Foreign health warnings
  • No picture health warnings
  • Unusual taste

Bootlegged

These are cigarettes and tobacco usually brought into the UK in large quantities from countries with lower tax and illegally resold as any cigarettes brought in from outside the UK should be for personal use only. Things to look out for include one or more of the following

  • Popular brands such as Lambert and Butler and Superkings
  • Foreign health warnings
  • Cheaper prices less than 3.50 for a pack of 20

Counterfeit (fake cigarettes)

These are cheap cigarettes that are made to look like popular UK brands. Things to look out for include one or more of the following

  • Popular brands such as Lambert and Butler and Superkings
  • Unusual packaging spelling mistakes, wrong logos, foreign health warnings
  • No picture health warnings
  • Cheaper prices less than 3.50 for a pack of 20

Dmca (copyright) complaint to google — chilling effects clearinghouse

Discount smoke shop: low priced cigarettes, cigars, beer, and liquor

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Question Why does a search engine get DMCA takedown notices for materials in its search listings?

Answer Many copyright claimants are making complaints under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, Section 512(d), a safe harbor for providers of “information location tools.” These safe harbors give providers immunity from liability for users’ possible copyright infringement if they “expeditiously” remove material when they get complaints. Whether or not the provider would have been liable for infringement by users’ materials it links to, the provider can avoid the possibility of a lawsuit for money damages by following the DMCA’s takedown procedure when it gets a complaint. The person whose information was removed can file a counter notification if he or she believes the complaint was erroneous.

Question What does a service provider have to do in order to qualify for safe harbor protection?

Answer In addition to informing its customers of its policies (discussed above), a service provider must follow the proper notice and takedown procedures (discussed above) and also meet several other requirements in order to qualify for exemption under the safe harbor provisions.

In order to facilitate the notification process in cases of infringement, ISPs which allow users to store information on their networks, such as a web hosting service, must designate an agent that will receive the notices from copyright owners that its network contains material which infringes their intellectual property rights. The service provider must then notify the Copyright Office of the agent’s name and address and make that information publicly available on its web site. 512(c)(2)

Finally, the service provider must not have knowledge that the material or activity is infringing or of the fact that the infringing material exists on its network. 512(c)(1)(A) , 512(d)(1)(A) . If it does discover such material before being contacted by the copyright owners, it is instructed to remove, or disable access to, the material itself. 512(c)(1)(A)(iii) , 512(d)(1)(C) . The service provider must not gain any financial benefit that is attributable to the infringing material. 512(c)(1)(B) , 512(d)(2) .

Question What are the provisions of 17 U.S.C. Section 512(c)(3) & 512(d)(3)?

Answer Section 512(c)(3) sets out the elements for notification under the DMCA. Subsection A (17 U.S.C. 512(c)(3)(A)) states that to be effective a notification must include 1) a physical/electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the infringed right 2) identification of the copyrighted works claimed to have been infringed 3) identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed 4) information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to contact the complaining party (e.g., the address, telephone number, or email address) 5) a statement that the complaining party has a good faith belief that use of the material is not authorized by the copyright owner and 6) a statement that information in the complaint is accurate and that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner. Subsection B (17 U.S.C. 512(c)(3)(B)) states that if the complaining party does not substantially comply with these requirements the notice will not serve as actual notice for the purpose of Section 512.

Section 512(d)(3), which applies to “information location tools” such as search engines and directories, incorporates the above requirements however, instead of the identification of the allegedly infringing material, the notification must identify the reference or link to the material claimed to be infringing.

Question Does a service provider have to follow the safe harbor procedures?

Answer No. An ISP may choose not to follow the DMCA takedown process, and do without the safe harbor. If it would not be liable under pre DMCA copyright law (for example, because it is not contributorily or vicariously liable, or because there is no underlying copyright infringement), it can still raise those same defenses if it is sued.

Question How do I file a DMCA counter notice?

Answer If you believe your material was removed because of mistake or misidentification, you can file a “counter notification” asking the service provider to put it back up. Chilling Effects offers a form to build your own counter notice.

For more information on the DMCA Safe Harbors, see the FAQs on DMCA Safe Harbor. For more information on Copyright and defenses to copyright infringement, see Copyright.