IP Review - Inside the world of intellectual property|
- FOR ARTICLES on:
- Patents
- Trademarks
- Domains
- Software
- IP strategy
Quick Links
Columnists
HAVE YOUR SAY in the ip review poll
Which type of magazine do you read the most to keep up-to-date with Industry news?
Domain fraudster takes fall
Full Story
In early September, Las Vegas resident David Dominic Scali was charged with impersonating an intellectual property lawyer for the purposes of illegally procuring domain names. Proceedings were conducted in a Los Angeles Federal Court, and Scali agreed to enter a guilty plea in order to avoid a lengthy sentence. His plea deal was filed in an LA District Court.The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) found that Scali had registered an email address under an alias, and had used it in order to send threatening messages to domain owners, claiming falsely that their URLs were infringing. Promising to sue his targets for up to $100,000, Scali had pressed them to turn their domains over to him within two days of initial contact, in return for suspending legal action.
Scali carried out his fraud campaign in summer 2006. Court papers stated: ‘[His] statements would reasonably influence the registered owners to part with the URLs and at least one owner did, in fact, part with a URL that she rightfully owned. As part of the scheme, on or about June 29, 2006, defendant caused the interstate transmission by wire of one such fraudulent e-mail from Nevada to Colorado.’
Although the maximum federal sentence for such fraud is 20 years, Scali’s entry of a guilty plea means that prosecutors will only recommend a six-month jail spell. From now on, his use of electronic communications equipment will be strictly monitored.
