Move to news: Man Pleads Guilty in Web naming scheme

-={420}=- · Dec 12, 2003, 01:36 PM

NEW YORK — A Florida man pleaded guilty Wednesday to registering misleading domain names on the Internet to direct children looking for popular sites such as Disneyland to pornography instead.

John Zuccarini, 56, will get roughly three years in prison when he is sentenced by a federal judge Feb. 20.

He was accused of registering thousands of sites with addresses that slightly misspelled the names of real sites, including those for pop star Britney Spears, cartoon character Bob the Builder and the Teletubbies.

The misspelled names led Internet surfers to advertising sites that paid Mr. Zuccarini for each user who viewed them. The government said he made up to $1-million (U.S.) a year from the scheme — much of it from sex sites.

Prosecutors said the charges and plea were the first brought under a provision of the seven-month-old U.S. federal Amber Alert law, which makes it a crime to use a misleading Web address to draw children to pornography.

Mr. Zuccarini was arrested in September at a Florida motel room.

SOURCE: Globetechnology

~~DriveEuro~~ · Dec 12, 2003, 02:01 PM

What about whitehouse.com........

talk about bad naming.

clicker666 · Dec 12, 2003, 02:35 PM

LOL! Once upon a time, when I was a junior tech, I used to type random url's into browsers to test connectivity. I tried to be creative and pick things I didn't think people would use. One day I tried whitehouse.com, innocently thinking it would take me to the POTUS web site.... haha... what a surprise!

-={420}=- · Dec 12, 2003, 06:00 PM

Yeah, I discovered that one quite a while ago...at my school library actually...where they block every possible porn/hack/crack/other illegal site...hmm...wonder why they didn't block this one.

Dec 12, 2003, 01:36 PM	#1
-={420}=- DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 1,095 Rep Power: 0	Move to news: Man Pleads Guilty in Web naming scheme NEW YORK — A Florida man pleaded guilty Wednesday to registering misleading domain names on the Internet to direct children looking for popular sites such as Disneyland to pornography instead. John Zuccarini, 56, will get roughly three years in prison when he is sentenced by a federal judge Feb. 20. He was accused of registering thousands of sites with addresses that slightly misspelled the names of real sites, including those for pop star Britney Spears, cartoon character Bob the Builder and the Teletubbies. The misspelled names led Internet surfers to advertising sites that paid Mr. Zuccarini for each user who viewed them. The government said he made up to $1-million (U.S.) a year from the scheme — much of it from sex sites. Prosecutors said the charges and plea were the first brought under a provision of the seven-month-old U.S. federal Amber Alert law, which makes it a crime to use a misleading Web address to draw children to pornography. Mr. Zuccarini was arrested in September at a Florida motel room. SOURCE: Globetechnology __________________ [COLOR=red]My eBay Auctions[/COLOR]

Dec 12, 2003, 02:35 PM	#3
clicker666 DriverHeaven Addict Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia, Canada Posts: 327 Rep Power: 0	whitehouse LOL! Once upon a time, when I was a junior tech, I used to type random url's into browsers to test connectivity. I tried to be creative and pick things I didn't think people would use. One day I tried whitehouse.com, innocently thinking it would take me to the POTUS web site.... haha... what a surprise! __________________

Dec 12, 2003, 06:00 PM	#4
-={420}=- DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 1,095 Rep Power: 0	Yeah, I discovered that one quite a while ago...at my school library actually...where they block every possible porn/hack/crack/other illegal site...hmm...wonder why they didn't block this one. __________________ [COLOR=red]My eBay Auctions[/COLOR]

Dec 12, 2003, 02:01 PM	#2
~~DriveEuro~~ Banned Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Gurnee Illinois Posts: 4,677 Rep Power: 0	What about whitehouse.com........ talk about bad naming.