Domain Thief Arrested & Charged By Police

Detectives from the New Jersey State Police Cyber Crimes Unit have charged Daniel Goncalves, aged 25, of Union Township, with:

1. Theft by unlawful taking or disposition
2. Theft of identity
3. Computer theft

The charges relate to the theft of the domain name P2P.com from their GoDaddy account in May of 2006.

After moving the domain name, the investigation found Goncalves again waited the mandatory 60 days and listed the name for sale on e-Bay in September of 2006, where it was purchased for just over $111,000. The purchaser, was professional basketball player Mark Madsen, a Los Angeles Clippers forward who did not know the name was stolen.

Colonel Rick Fuentes, Superintendent of the New Jersey State Police stated:

“The domain name industry is in some respects still like the wild west. Many of the rules are not yet codified into state laws, let alone federal or international laws”

“There is no deed for ownership of a domain name.  In most cases they are protected solely by a login and password for the site through which they are registered. Nevertheless, theft is theft, and that law that can be applied whenever possession of an own-able thing is improperly transferred for gain.”

Source: New Jersey State Police Cyber Crimes Unit.

Kentucky Lawyers File Late Brief for Online Gambling Case

Kentucky lawyers filed briefs with the state Supreme Court regarding the online gambling forfeiture case, where 141 online casinos were allegedly “attacked” in the initial order.

Questions by the court arose when attorneys representing the Commonwealth of Kentucky filed a late response to the Internet Casino case. The Motion for Enlargement which would allow the late filing failed to give a reasonable excuse, implying the reason was the state thought it was due the day after. In addition, the large number of parties involved may have caused the delay. According to the motion, they had “calculated a due date for the filing of a Reply Brief in this action on Thursday, June 18th.”

The next step involves the court reviewing the briefs to decide whether the case merits further judicial review. If the verdict stands, however, the order will be dismissed.

Via: OnlineCasinoAdvisory

Sonic Sues Over Domain Dispute

A federal lawsuit has apparently been brought about which claims that a California company established a website at mysonic.com and sends users to a Burger King home page. The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in U.S District court in Oklahoma City and may be worth $100,000.

The Bright Orange Software Inc. is accused of using an “identical” or “confusingly similar” name, because visitors are being redirected to the Burger King site. The competitor is accused of false advertising.

Sonic insists Bright Orange is guilty of “cyber-squatting” and according to vice president Nancy Robertson they are “prepared for the pending litigation to proceed unless the issue is resolved outside of the courtroom.”

Source: Newsok

France Goes After Champagne Domain Names

The Comite Interprofessional du Vin de Champagne (the semi-government authority of the Republic of France), is going after people who use champagne in their domain name.

A gift delivery business called “Champagne Messenger” has been forced to change their name after being pursued by our frog eating friends. The CIVC claims their intent is to protect the history and reputation of sparkling wines produced in the Champagne region of France.

After a seven day warning was issued to forfeit the name, or face federal court proceedings, the small business in the rural town of Coffs Harbor in Australia conceded.

Small business owners Stuart and Kyla Holley told the Coffs Coast Advocate:

“But we’re just a small business that is less than a year old, we can’t possibly afford to fight this in court… even though we feel we are being bullied.”

“It’s madness really. Will it get to the stage where you can’t buy champagne ham or enjoy a champagne breakfast any more, just because the French ‘own’ that word?”

Source: Coffs Coast Advocate

Bodog Back After Long Dispute

For the last two years, bodog.com has apparently been battling a legal issue which has kept them from operating under their original domain name and allowing gamers to gamble there. The good news is that a settlement been reached, resolving the patent pending litigation. The result is the return of Bododg.com.

CEO of Morris Mohawk Gaming Group, Alwyn Morris, stated “It felt akin to taking ownership of a piece of Bodog’s history.” The return of the domain is also thought to benefit all global licensees, as they will be redirected to the right licensee for their jurisdiction when going to Bodog.com. With these battles now behind them, Bodog.com will again be serving North American players.

Source: CalidaGaming and PokerListings.

US Court of Appeals Reverses Verisign Motion – Lobbyists & Bloggers Paid To Attack?

An appeal from the US District Court was recently lodged in California. The Plaintiff is the Coalition for ICANN Transparency with the Defendant, Verisign, Inc.

Here is a small extract that I found interesting:

“CFIT alleged that in order to get ICANN to agree to the terms VeriSign desired, VeriSign paid lobbyists to support its position, “stacked” ICANN’s public meetings with VeriSign supporters, hired purportedly independent organizations and individuals to advocate VeriSign’s position, paid bloggers to attack ICANN’s reputation, planted news stories critical of ICANN in mainstream media, threatened ICANN with litigation, arbitration, and government investigation, and indeed eventually brought suit against ICANN in federal and state court.”

“CFIT alleged that ICANN and VeriSign conspired to set artificially high prices for VeriSign’s services and to ensure that VeriSign would receive successor contracts with ICANN without having to go through a competitive bidding process.”

Conclusion

“We REVERSE the district court’s grant of VeriSign’s motion to dismiss CFIT’s complaint for failure to state a claim, and REMAND to the district court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.”

Here is the original court document for your viewing pleasure.

National American University wants NAU (Naughty American University) Domain

Depending on the type of education you desire—you may be put off by the porno site Naughty American University. When seeking a bachelor’s or master’s degree, some would be students are stumbling upon the explicit site where sex-ed is the subject.

National American University is suing NAU (Naughty American University) for claims of trademark violations. The civil complaint was apparently filed in a Rapid City federal court. Financial damages are being sought in addition to the prevention of the use of the school’s trademark.

The National American University is said to have been offering educational courses since 1997 and has since spent millions of dollars promoting its name. When the porno site registered its similar name on September 12, 2003, an embarrassing mix up ensued.

Via: Rapid City Journal and Twincities.

Mel Gibson’s Girlfriend Files Cybersquatter Suit

Mel Gibson’s newly announced pregnant girlfriend is suing. The trouble, however, does not sit with Mel, rather a company called DreamHost.com. The company is accused of making OksanaGrigorieva.com look like her official website.

The lawsuit was apparently filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, the compliant suggests the Web hosting company was cyber squatting. The specifics of the suit are not clear, as the site is now closed down.

Via: ContactMusic and eOnline.

Canadian Politician Forgets To Renew Domain – What Happens Next?

Canadian politician Rodger Cuzner appears to have forgotten to renew his domain name rodgercuzner.ca. It was renewed by someone else and is now showing dating links for Senior Friend Finder.

Cuzner told CBC News “Guys watch for these opportunities and they see the opportunity and then they come back and sell you back the domain site.”

Unfortunately for Rodger, he still hasn’t changed his Facebook page – its still showing “Website: http://www.rodgercuzner.ca” under Detailed Info. Good on you Rodger!

About Rodger

Born in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, he is a current member of the Liberal Party of Canada in the Canadian House of Commons, representing the riding of Cape Breton—Canso. Cuzner is a former organizer of events. He was parliamentary secretary to former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien from January 13, 2003 to December 11, 2003.

Domaining Companies Breached: Why Changing Passwords Is Not Enough

Early last year I posted my Top 10 Tips For Keeping Your Domains Safe. Tip #9 covered password protection and recommended that you use a program such as Password Safe and use the random password generator. If you followed that advice, then its likely that you only have to change one password. If you didn’t follow that advice, you could be in a world of trouble.

Over the past week I’ve received far too many notices from parking companies telling me to change my password. At first I thought I had been transported back to 1990 or a scene out of the Matrix whereby someone types in a password and gets access to “the mainframe”. Here is why changing your password isn’t enough.

Identity Theft

Your parking accounts provide valuable information such as your name, address, telephone number, credit cards etc.. While there are legitimate reasons for companies asking you for this information (such as to verify your identity when you sign up), if the information is stolen then it can be combined with other information so that:

• Loans can be taken out in your name.
• Credit cards can be obtained in your name.
• Other identity documents can be issued.
• Someone else can become you!

Domain Theft

Just when you thought that getting your identity stolen was bad enough, your portfolio is being transferred. I’ve already written about how you can secure your domain names before, so I won’t go into it here – just read the article.

Money Laundering

Change your passwords on your paypal account and bank account. Paypal have a Security Key that costs you $5. It provides extra security on top of your password. It’s not fool proof, but will help deter the dumb crooks. I suggest you use it. The last thing you need is for your paypal account or bank account to be emptied and/or used to transfer large sums of money on behalf of criminals.

Next Steps

1. Use Password Safe and randomly generate a passwords for all your accounts.

2. Change your EMAIL (pop3/IMAP) passwords. These are often used to reset passwords. eg: people click on “Reset my password” or “I’ve forgotten my password” and an email is sent to you. Of course, the crooks know your ISP (from your domain name in your email address)and can probably login your your email via webmail and get that password reset email before you. Didn’t think of that, now did you?

3. Change your server, blog, paypal and any other passwords.

I hope this has given you a few things to think about. Your domains are valuable assets. It’s time to treat them that way.