Online Security, a global provider of computer forensics and information technology risk mitigation since 1997   Original Source:    Ann W. O'Neill, Barbara Hijek, Mike Jachles Feds arrest Hollywood man in online porn `mousetrapping' scheme Author:  http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/yahoo/sfl-cmousetrap04sep04,1,2928641.story?coll=sfla-newsaol-headlines Federal agents raided a hotel room in Hollywood early Wednesday and arrested a man they say runs Web sites that use misspelled addresses to lure children surfing for Mickey Mouse, Scooby Doo and Harry Potter to graphic sex sites. According to court documents, John Zuccarini, 53, made $1 million a year through more than 3,000 registered Internet domain names that were slight variations of cartoon characters and pop music stars. The practice, known as typosquatting, directs users to porn sites. The porn sites, in a practice known as mousetrapping, then launch a barrage of sexually graphic pop-ups. Zuccarini appeared Wednesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry S. Seltzer in Fort Lauderdale, becoming the first person charged under a section of the new federal Amber Alert law. That section, the Truth in Domains Act, makes it illegal to mislead children onto porn sites. "We cannot imagine a better way for this law to be used for the first time," said James Comey, Manhattan's U.S. attorney. Prosecutors are expected to ask at a hearing Monday in Fort Lauderdale that Zuccarini remain behind bars until he is sent to New York for prosecution. Authorities said they had no permanent address for Zuccarini, formerly of Philadelphia, before tracing him to a Holiday Inn resort on the beach in Hollywood. The arrest capped a two-month undercover investigation in which an agent with the U.S. Postal Service surfed Zuccarini's copycat sites. He went looking for Teletubbies and found Hanky-Panky College, according to an affidavit filed in the case. Authorities say Zuccarini is one of the most prolific practitioners of misleading Internet tactics. In a previous civil suit, he said he was in the business of advertising for other Web sites and was paid 10 to 25 cents each time he directs a visitor to an advertiser's site. As a result, Zuccarini has been sued more than 100 times by actors such as Kevin Spacey, entertainment companies such as Disney, Time Warner and Lucasfilms, even Internet search engine Yahoo. In response to a civil complaint by the Federal Trade Commission, a federal judge in Philadelphia issued a permanent injunction against Zuccarini's misleading Internet tactics in September 2001, according to an affidavit. During the Philadelphia case, he "admitted that one reason he registered so many domain names which are of interest to children and teenagers is because teenagers and young people tend not to know how to spell." He continued to do so after a judge ordered him to stop. The judge later observed: "Mr. Zuccarini's conduct is not easily deterred. ... Mr. Zuccarini boldly thumbs his nose at the rulings of this court and the laws of our country." During a 1999 case, Zuccarini sent this e-mail to one of the opposing lawyers: "You do not own the Internet!!! People can say and do whatever they want!!!" Last year, Zuccarini was again ordered to stop the scheme after the Federal Trade Commission sued him for registering misspelled variations of sites for the Backstreet Boys, Victoria's Secret and The Wall Street Journal. Although Zuccarini's methods might not be new, the law criminalizing them is: Congress passed the Amber Alert legislation in April. If convicted, he could be sent to prison for up to four years. Zuccarini had been living at the Holiday Inn resort for about six months, said general manager Bruce Siegel. The staff was shocked by the arrest because, he said, "we're more of a family resort." Federal agents were investigating Zuccarini in 1999, when they received a complaint from the parent of a 13-year-old who was looking for a travel Web site and found porn instead. "Few of us could imagine there was someone out there in cyberspace essentially reaching out by hand to take children to the seediest corners of the Internet," Comey said at a news conference in New York.