A NEW JERSEY MAN has been the first person in the US to be charged with stealing a domain name and selling it.
The domain in question, P2P.com, was pilfered by Daniel Goncalves, 25, after he hacked into a GoDaddy account belonging to one of its owners. Gonclaves grabbed his virtual swag bag, scurried down a dark alley - in this case Ebay - and promptly sold it to a passing basketball player.
The player,
Mark Madsen, a Los Angeles Clippers forward, had no idea the domain was stolen and we have no idea why it wasn't snapped up by a filesharing site. Either way he still owns it. So that's one in the eye for justice.
Although the stolen domain sold for some $111,000 the police estimate that it's worth about $200,000. It is obviously worth a lot more than that to its original owners as one of them, Marc Ostrofsky, reckons they've spent about two and a half years and half a million dollars trying to reclaim the domain name.
However, their time may not have been spent in the most efficient manner. GoDaddy, which is facing a civil suit filed by Ostrofsky and his partners, has denied that its systems were negligent, explaining that the theft was not reported for over a year - well over its 60-day deal waiting period.
Possibly because domain theft isn't the most exciting name for a crime Goncalves was arrested on felony charges of theft by unlawful taking or deception, identity theft and computer fraud.
He is facing sixty years in prison if convicted.
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