stories filed under: "ftc"
Apparently Fines And Jail Time Not Enough To Deter Infamous Disappearing Typosquatter From Typosquatting Again
from the cnat-saty-aawy dept
PC World has a story about how the FTC has fined John Zuccarini $164,000 for typosquatting domains that kids are likely to visit and sending them to hardcore porn sites. Before I saw the name of the guy in question, I had thought it was probably worth writing up a post asking what kind of idiot points children to porn sites? It hardly seems good for business -- as the target audience isn't quite right and it's clearly likely to bring the feds down on you pretty quickly. However, once I realized it was John Zuccarini, it became even more worth posting, because we haven't had a chance to write about Mr. Zuccarini in years (probably because he was in jail for a while). Since many of you may not recognize the name (or missed the various stories about him from way back when), it's worth recapping.Zuccarini's first claim to fame came in early 2001 when the press picked up on the fact that he had built up a huge typosquatting empire to prey on people who mistyped a domain name. If you went to one of his domains, it would pop up ads that would take over your screen that would be nearly impossible to close. However, what was much more interesting was that Zuccarini was a slippery sucker who was tough to find. After losing a few cases brought against him, he just started ignoring all lawsuits and judgments against him and basically went into hiding (while still making tons of money). In the rare instances where he showed up in court, he refused to give anyone a way to find him again. The transcript of him answering questions in court about where he lives is quite amusing:
Question: What is your current address?
Zuccarini: 957 Bristol Pike, Apartment D-6, Andalusia, Pennsylvania, 19020.
Q: Is that where you currently reside?
Zuccarini: Not necessarily.
Q: Where do you currently reside?
Zuccarini: I don't have - that's my legal address. I really don't have a permanent address at this time.
Q: Where do you currently reside?
Zuccarini: Right now, I am staying at the Millennium Hotel in New York.
Q: When you are not in New York for a deposition, where do you live? Where have you lived in the past two weeks?
Zuccarini: I have been living in various places.
Q. What are the various places that you have been living?
Zuccarini: Friends' places. You know, that type of thing. Different hotels.
Q. 957 Bristol Pike is not your residence?
Zuccarini: No, it's not. It's my legal address. I have a lease on the apartment and that's where I have - some things are sent there which I get.
Q: Do you live in Pennsylvania?
Zuccarini: I don't know. I don't have a permanent address so I can live anywhere. I don't live anywhere right now. I can't give you a permanent address.
Soon afterwards, he basically disappeared completely. The FTC ordered that his website all be shut down, though it's unclear if that ever happened. Not long after that, the FTC fined him about $2 million for typosquatting. It took until late 2003 until Zuccarini was finally tracked down and arrested for pointing kids to porn, leading to a quick guilty plea and three year jail sentence. Do the math and you realize he's back out again... and apparently went right back to his old tricks: typosquatting and pointing kids at porn sites. You would think he would have learned his lesson, but apparently not. To hear that the new fine is only for $164,000 seems a bit surprising. Given the earlier fines, conviction and jailtime, you would think that something more stringent might make sense. In the meantime, there's no word on whether or not Zuccarini even plans to acknowledge the fine. Given his past behavior, you might not want to bet on it.
Filed Under: ftc, john zuccarini, porn, typosquatting
FTC Notices That Diet Pill Spammer's Diet Pills Don't Work
from the next-thing-you-know,-they'll-be-telling-us-that-the-moon-isn't-made-of-cheese dept
Last week, the FTC announced that a judge had shut down the operation of a diet pill spammer after it turned out (shockingly, we know) that the claims made by the spammers about the pills were either completely false or (at best) unsubstantiated. While the spammers were in violation of the CAN SPAM law, it would seem that they should be in violation of other fraud regulations as well, such as false advertising. Of course, with so much spamming going overseas these days, perhaps what's more amazing is that these guys were in the US and it was possible to find them in order to shut them down. We're sure someone somewhat less easily shut down will quickly fill in the void.Filed Under: diet pills, ftc, spam
Companies: ftc
Judge Slaps Down FTC's Attempt To Block Whole Foods/Wild Oats Deal
from the buh-zing! dept
When the FTC stepped in to block the merger between Whole Foods and Wild Oats, it seemed like an obvious case of a market being defined too narrowly. Yes, both companies place a similar emphasis on organic foods, but organic foods represent a small slice of the overall food market, and there's no question that organic and conventional foods are substitute goods. The whole situation was roughly analogous to the situation facing XM and Sirius in their attempt to merge, as the NAB would like the FCC to define the market as simply satellite radio, while in fact it's clearly much broader. It looks like the FTC's argument has been thoroughly rejected as a federal judge declared that the merger should not be blocked. The judge's ruling remains sealed, so his exact rationale isn't known, but it sounds like this could be a useful precedent in other cases going forward.Filed Under: antitrust, ftc
Companies: whole foods, wild oats
Political Gamesmanship In XM-Sirius Merger Rolls On
from the the-fun-never-ends dept
While comments filed with the FCC in support of the merger of satellite radio companies XM and Sirius outnumber those opposing it by nearly a four to one margin, they're not seen by many people to carry the same influence as those arguing against the merger. For instance, more than 70 Congressmen have told the heads of the FCC, DOJ and FTC that they should block the merger, and as stock pundit Jim Cramer points out, this has little to do with anything other than legislators' self-interest, since they don't want to upset local broadcasters in their constituencies. He adds that since XM and Sirius are up against such powerful opposition, they've had to go for broke, by announcing pricing plans that, if the merger's approved, could slice their average per-subscriber revenue. The plans offer consumers the ability to choose channels on an a la carte basis -- a move that looks like it's designed to appeal to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, for whom indecent programming is always an issue. At the outset of the merger announcement, Martin said that XM and Sirius would have to show that "consumers would clearly be better off with both more choice and affordable prices" before the FCC would approve the deal. These new plans would appear to deliver consumers more choices and control over the content they receive, and do so at lower prices. But it's still hard to see that being enough to overcome politicians' objections, fueled by the National Association of Broadcasters' clout.Filed Under: congress, doj, fcc, ftc, mergers, politics, satellite radio
Companies: nab, sirius, xm