STEAL A DOMAIN – GO TO JAIL
August 4th, 2009 Posted in General Domain News
Hi Gang,
Reported today in the New Jersey Star Ledger, somebody got some chained steel locked around their wrists and led away to jail. Their crime? Allegedly hacking into a registrar, stealing the domain name P2P.com, and selling it on eBay.
Hijacking domains is more common than we know, and we know about RHJ’s enough to be wary and hopefully prepared. However, this case shows a distinct connection to a line in the movie “Gran Torino”, when Clint Eastwood’s character says to some gang members “Have you ever had that one time when you messed with someone and that person turned out to be the wrong person to mess with? I’m him.” (or something to that affect).
The “someones” that the arrested party, Daniel Goncalves, 25, messed with, was husband and wife Albert and Lesli Angel, and Marc Ostrofsky. Poor Daniel, may he rot in the Union Township pokey. (It has been reported he made his $60,000 bail – most likely made from a few months parking revenue on the domains he allegedly stole).
What should be exciting for all domainers is that the authorities and lawyers familiar with the case said this may be the first criminal case of its kind in the country.
“Domain names are extremely valuable, if courts of law and prosecutors are treating it the same way they would treat a stolen car,” said Brian Hall, an attorney who specializes in internet law at a Michigan law firm called Traverse Legal. “That says a lot.”
“The case could set a precedent,”Hall said, “with more people seeking criminal charges when a domain name — which functions as the website’s registered identity — is stolen.”
The domain was first purchased by the Angels and Ostrofsky for $160,000 July 2005 from a Wisconsin printing company. When Angel discovered he had lost control of the domain through this theft, he started a determined effort to track down how it happened, who did it, and where the domain ended up. After some intense research, Angel found that Mark Madsen, a forward for the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team, (and regular domain investor) bought the domain in September of 2006 for $110,000, ON EBAY. (Go figure)
Angel lost two other domains, drugoverdose.com and profreedom.com, both allegedly to Goncalves.
Angel, an attorney and ex-federal prosecutor (this domain hijacker really did “rob a cop’s bar,” so to speak), filed a criminal report in 2008 (he’d filed a civil lawsuit too, which was almost settled) with the New Jersey State Police Cyber Crimes Unit. For his efforts, he was rewarded with some results that will ring like a cannon shot across the bow of any pirate “ship”, so to speak. The NJ Cyber Crimes crew went out and tackled someone we’d all like to dogpile on (if found guilty, of course).
This is a great moment for domainers, and we should all thank and support Albert and Lesli Angel, and Marc Ostrofsky, for their dogged efforts to bring this nogginhead to justice and try to recoup their domains. As of this moment, they are in talks with Madsen, but still don’t have their domains back. Let’s wish them the best success for retrieving them quickly.
Local article: http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-14/1249353313133550.xml&coll=1
2 Responses to “STEAL A DOMAIN – GO TO JAIL”
By L. Melton on Aug 4, 2009
I had someone hack into a website I created and owned,and basically stole it under my nose. I love this precedent. I am off to the lawyer now!
XXXXXX Stephen Douglas Responds:
Go for it, Melton. And keep us apprised of your success. What was your domain name? What can we (including the ICA) do to help you? Give me more info and I’ll keep it posted if it floats.
By Marc Ostrofsky on Aug 4, 2009
Thanks for the story, Stephen. I founded the ICA (yes, I founded it and Schilling renamed it the ICA) for JUST THIS PURPOSE. Unfortunately, Phil and the legal team have not supported this effort nor seem to have an interest in such. THAT WAS THE REASON WE NEEDED THE ICA in the first place…
A. To keep prices low
B. To make certain laws were enacted to protect our assets.
As with other associations, the lawyers take all the money and don’t do what the members REALLY need. It’s terribly unfortunate. I tried and tried to get the ICA involved – even if they just put out a few press releases on this (and other) cases. Alas nothing. Had they done so, they would have had an incredible opportunity to get press on this (and other) cases.
Can someone get the lawyers at the ICA to focus on what REALLY helps domainers vs. the huge checks they look to cash monthly.
XXXXXX Stephen Douglas Responds:
UPDATED: 8/5/09
Thanks for writing, Marc. I agree with you about the ICA. I paid a substantial annual fee to become an ICA member in expectation of exactly what you outlined they should be doing in your post here. Even defending them many times publicly, I still wondered what my money was being spent on. I wondered when all the members of the ICA would be shown a “game plan” that represented domainers, their investments and interests.
Your comments here are pretty straightforward (which I take as fact until I hear otherwise from Phil or Jeremiah) that the ICA ignored your pleas regarding your situation. It seems your predicament (domain theft) would be tailor-made for ICA action and assistance. I looked at the current Board of Directors on the ICA website, and I still see Ron Jackson’s name on the board, although I thought he withdrew. (I’ll check this out with Ron tonight). UPDATE: Talked with Ron who said he is not a founding member, but is on the board.
I believe Jeremiah Johnston is a respected player in this industry and a conscientious guy from my personal discussions with him. I don’t know if you have seen his response in this news article, seemingly as if the ICA was involved in helping resolve this issue for you and the Angels.
(I welcome any comments from JJ or Phil regarding the ICA involvement in your 2 year quest to bring justice to yourselves and all domainers. They weren’t involved I think back in 2006, but still be interested in their knowledge of the story)
You are quoted in this article, but the big questions now arising (this case has many tentacles):
• Where was the ICA in this?
• Why did the New Jersey State Police nail this thing on the head, when Florida’s law enforcement fumbled the ball?
• How can the whole domain community tune into this case, and let the NJ courts know how incredibly important it is for this prosecution to go forward and to set precedent?
• Why would GoDaddy make such a lame comment in the media about “60 day holds” on domain transfers when it’s already known that the process used to steal your domain was done by a “push” from one GoDaddy account to another? There is no waiting period for a “intra-registrar” push from one GoDaddy account to another. It seems GoDaddy’s love of that 60 day hold process is meant to keep domains in their portfolio by forcing people who want to buy a domain to become new GoDaddy members in order to get a domain that a GoDaddy account holder is selling. The push between accounts has no protection “restrictions” beyond the domain holder’s email address, so GoDaddy’s claim of “protecting domain holders” with this system doesn’t apply to your case.
Many domainers’ lives are invested in domains, and a theft like this, for someone without the knowledge and financial means to try to recover their stolen domain, could literally wipe them out. It’s no different than an investor who was shafted by Bernie Madoff. You had the hammer of a former federal prosecutor to work for two years (even that’s unbelievable) in order to start the wheels of justice. Very few of us would find ourselves in this “advantageous” position. Thank God you had the resources to rip out the entrails of this alleged criminal’s domain thefts.
Marc, please feel free to comment here to expand your strategy to make this extraordinary case “not go away” in the eyes of the media, the public, and most of all, the legal system nationwide. As the saying goes when you want bad people to feel the long-lasting scorpion sting of justice, “Let’s Go Federal On Them”.
I can only speak for all domainers by saying: “Thanks” to you and the Angels for tearing away at this guy like badgers… it will leave a historical mark for the domain industry and change our future for the better.