At the request of the Federal Trade Commission, the court
permanently barred Zuccarini from diverting or obstructing
consumers on the internet and from launching web sites or web pages
that belong to unrelated third parties. The court also has barred
him from participating in advertising affiliate programs on the
internet, and has ordered him to pay almost $1.9 million.
In October 2001, the FTC charged that John Zuccarini was
registering internet domain names that were misspellings of
legitimate domain names or that incorporated transposed or inverted
words or phrases – known as typosquatting. For example, Zuccarini
registered 41 variations on the name of pop star Britney Spears.
Surfers who looked for a site but misspelled its web address or
were taken to his sites.
Users then were bombarded with a rapid series of windows
displaying ads for goods and services ranging from internet
gambling to porn. In some cases, the legitimate web site the
consumer was attempting to access also was launched, so consumers
thought the hailstorm of ads to which they were being exposed was
from a legitimate web site.
Once consumers were taken to one of the defendant's sites, it
was very difficult for them to exit. In a practice known as
mousetrapping, special programming code at the sites obstructed
surfers' ability to close their browser or to go back to the
previous page. Clicks on the "close" or "back" buttons caused new
windows to open. The FTC alleged that the practices were unfair and
deceptive, in violation of federal law.
The court order permanently bars Zuccarini from: redirecting or
obstructing consumers on the internet in connection with the
advertising, promoting, offering for sale, selling, or providing
any goods or services on the internet; and launching the web sites
of others without their permission.
