A company of which I was previously part owner of was a victim of Domain Name Theft and Email Accounts Theft.
The above thefts created a wasteland of devastation – a company bankruptcy, a personal bankruptcy, the compromising of e-mail communications across state/federal/international boundaries, the compromising of e-mail communications with foreign governments, the loss and compromising of intellectual property and other invested assets – the list goes on.
I now know firsthand the severe consequences that such actions of theft can wrought. Moreover, I watched as the theft of one single Domain Name adversely affected a remarkable amount of individuals and companies – again, some gravely.
As such, I am now dedicated to seeking new legislation on the criminalization and prosecution of Domain Name Theft and related abuses such as Email Accounts Theft. You steal a domain name, you should be arrested.
This blog will serve as one of my many efforts. In this blog, among other things - I will cover the following:
· Postings of documents and evidence related to the Domain Name Theft (and other related thefts) of our previous company.
· Postings of any legislative developments on Domain Name Theft (and related thefts/topics).
· Postings of other media and news stories on the above topics.
· Postings of any developments in relation to the Domain Name Theft (and related thefts) of our previous company.
To close, thankfully Domain Name Theft has finally been criminally prosecuted in the USA as of last summer.
And just as reassuring, is that despite a 5 year process between reported time of stolen domain name from the GoDaddy.com account (May 2006) to the beginning of the New Jersey State Policy Cyber Crimes Unit investigation in October 2008 to the conviction/sentencing in July 2011, in the end – the criminal conviction took place.
Here is a copy of the News Release stemming from the case:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:Contact:
Megan Beatie, Goldberg McDuffie Communications
818-678-6288, mbeatie@goldbergmcduffie.com
DOMAIN NAME THIEF SENTENCED TO FIVE YEARS IN PRISON
Groundbreaking Case Highlights Cybercrime Threat to Businesses and Individuals
July 22, 2011. Union N.J.— Today computer hacker Daniel Goncalves was sentenced to five
years in prison for stealing the domain name P2P.com from Internet entrepreneurs Marc
Ostrofsky and Albert and Lesli Angel and selling it on eBay.com for $121,000 to former
professional basketball player Mark Madsen (see full story). Goncalves is the first domain thief
to be criminally prosecuted in the United States. The N.J. Cyber Crimes Unit prosecution was led
by arresting sergeant detective John Gorman and prosecutor Kenneth Sharpe. Goncalves was
sentenced before Superior Court Judge Stuart Peim in Union County, N.J. following a guilty plea
to multiple criminal counts
This sentencing sets an important precedent in the fight against domain name theft. Individuals
and Fortune 500 companies alike are vulnerable to domain theft and website hijackings, but
victims face daunting legal hurdles just pursuing civil remedies. In manv states victims of
domain theft would face significant challenges simply reclaiming a stolen domain from a
subsequent purchaser. As a 2007 Wall Street Journal article confirmed “domain thefts are an
everyday occurrence” but criminal enforcement proceedings are rare to non-existent. But in this
case Ostrofsky and his partners Albert and Lesli Angel worked to track down Goncalves, get the
N.J. Cyber Crimes unit involved and ultimately have the hacker brought to justice.
Ostrofsky, author of the best selling book Get Rich Click, is renowned in the Guinness World
Records for having bought Business.com for $150,000 in 1995 and sold it a few years later for a
world record $7.5 million. Transactions like the one involving Business.com helped to make
transactions in domain names a hot investment prospect. But laws creating remedies for victims
of domain theft have lagged behind market progress. Albert Angel, who spoke at the
sentencing, said “ in our effort to redress the injuries inflicted on us we came to appreciate how
undeveloped this area of the law is, and how victims of domain theft face an unmarked and
totally uphill battle to get a remedy. Today’s sentencing helps to define a path for other victims
and law enforcers to follow, and reinforces the likelihood that the theft of a domain can and will
be prosecuted.”
