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back to article Accused Scareware mongers held in contempt of court

A federal judge has fined a Belize-based company $8,000 for each day it continues to flout his order to halt a major internet operation alleged to have duped more than 1 million computer users into buying bogus malware protection. US District Judge Richard D. Bennett wrote in a ruling late last week that Innovative Marketing …

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  1. Dave

    Jurisdiction?

    If they're in Belize then they can probably ignore the judge, although it might be difficult for them to travel in future. If the judge really does have the power, perhaps he could start fining all the scammers and spammers in other hard-to-touch parts of the world.

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  2. Robert

    duh!

    flaunt? surely flout.

    but $8000 dollars per day isn't enough

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  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Throw their azzes in prison

    Criminals aren't going to stop their crimes until they end up in prison. They certainly aren't going to pay any attention to a court order while they are grabbing their loot and heading off to an unknown location to try and escape prosecution, ferchrissake. Hunt the dogs down and throw their worthless azzes in prison until it's time for a trial. Then give 'em 20 years and get on with life.

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  4. James O'Brien
    Thumb Up

    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

    OK nice to finally see a judge and people getting to the bottom of the WinAntiVirus/WhateverNameItHasThisMonth fiasco. And I cant say im disappointed and saddened about the guy not being able to afford an attorney due to assets being frozen. To bad so sad cant wait till the confiscate them all and you get to live on the street you wanker.

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  5. Dapprman
    Stop

    Hmmmm......

    While I'd like to see this sort of scum dealt with, do you think some one ought to point out to the judge that Belize is not part of the United States of America ?

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  6. Anonymous Coward
    Happy

    @Dapprman

    No. I think we should give him a map of the U.S., and ask him to point where Belize is, instead!

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  7. Anonymous Coward
    Black Helicopters

    What makes you think ...

    That someone can't reach out and touch someone in Belize?

    Just call your friendly neighborhood rendition air for their special services. ;-)

    Ok, said tongue in cheek. In reality the US has some options and since there is some sort of tie to an Ohio ISP, they don't need too much of a long arm.

    Maybe the US should call in some favors from their friends to assist. After all this issue isn't just an US based issue. Its global. With no real cold war, its one way to keep your field operatives busy while training the next generation. ;-)

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  8. Mark Nelson
    Pirate

    Ever hear of extradition Dapprman?

    Because that is one way to get at them.

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  10. Dex

    Interpol?

    Interpol much?

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  11. Anonymous Coward
    Boffin

    @Dapprman

    Spanish & Danish judges seem to have the same problem understanding the concept of jurisdiction.

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  12. Fatman
    Happy

    Scareware mongers in contempt

    I have a simple punishment for spammers, and their like (identity thieves, malware authors, etc).

    Shoot them all.

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  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    not a cats chance in hell

    Extradition? The article said the judge held them in 'civil contempt', ie, this is a civil matter not a criminal one.

    IIRC you can't extradite someone for a civil matter, only criminal. And it the alledged offence has to be a criminal offence in both countries for the extradition to be granted.

    So what we've got here is an American judge ordering a few guys in another country to pay fines and stop what their activities and it's a civil matter. Typical American arrogance if you ask me, thinking they have jurasdiction over another country.

    There's not a cats chance in hell the defendants will pay the money, and not particularly likely they will cease their activities, if they're being paid for it! And there's not a cats chance in hell the judges orders can be enforced so why should the defendants care?

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  14. Franklin

    Jurisdiction...

    ...is not *necessarily* an issue. Just because a company is incorporated in Belize, doesn't necessarily mean that it or its owners are located in Belize...

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  15. David Wilkinson

    The ruling has some effect

    Its probably necessary to prosecute the company if only to get at their call center in Ohio. Also they won't ever be able to have in USA held assets, it might help with people seeking to have credit card charges reversed, it might help legitimate businesses avoid accidental dealings with the company or any future company with the same corporate leadership ....

    Yeah its not really all that effective but at least the effort is being made.

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  16. Donald Becker

    Belize doesn't have jurisdiction

    I'm normally sensitive to jurisdiction issues, but in this case it appears that all of the players are in U.S. They are targeting U.S. consumers, taking orders in the U.S., and cashing the check in the U.S. The only thing in some hard-to-reach country is the corporate registration of a front. The money probably gets stuffed into an account in a different hard-to-reach country, in a way that's difficult to track.

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  17. Anonymous Coward
    Paris Hilton

    Silly Brits

    Hey the company may be incorporated in Belize, that doesn't mean that the principals, you guys know, the guilty parties are citizens of Belize. They can be annoying Americans living in the Good Ole USA, owning a company in Belize. That is who they are after.

    Paris coz even she knows not to screw with WinAntivirus

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  18. Anonymous Coward
    Black Helicopters

    Belize is...

    A British colony, it wont be too hard to get governmental cooperation, considering how the UK likes to bend over for the US...

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  19. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Silly Americans

    Don't you know he who has the most expensive lawyers wins. Or does the modern history of US jurisprudence seem like common sense to you?

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  20. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Re: Belize is...

    Belize is NOT a British colony. It once was, but not anymore. It gained independence in 1981. It is as much its own country just like the Australia, Canada, Trinidad & Tobago and many other ex-colonies. You may be confusing Belize with the Caymans, which are still a British Overseas Territory (along with Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, Montserrat, Turks and Caicos, and Anguilla in the Caribbean).

    Belize is still a constitutional monarchy though, identical to the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Canada and Australia, and QE II is still the monarch.

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  21. Matthew Ellen

    former

    No, Belize is a _former_ British Colony. So it's very much like America.

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  22. DutchOven
    Happy

    Har har har - the sites are pretty transparent tho.

    I encountered one of these sites last night.

    It told me my registry was infected with spyware and malware.

    The it gave me a Windows Exporer window and started scanning my C:\ drive for viruses.

    Hilarious, considering I was browsing using a platform that doesn't have internet exporer, doesn't have a registry and doesn't have a C:\ drive.

    They might be more convincing if they checked the platform and browser I was using before throwing up the window...

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  23. Keith Doyle
    Thumb Down

    Symantec & McAffee next?

    Seems like the only difference between these guys and Symantec or McAffee is a matter of degree. A scam is a scam, and malware that sucks the performance out of your computer is just as bad when obtained from a more familiar source.

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  24. Leon Prinsloo
    Unhappy

    I hope they get these bastards

    I am sooo tired of stupid users being conned by these guys, I lose hours trying to get rid of their crap on infected machines. Not only do they con people into installing their rubbish, they also download additional viruses and apps onto a machine that has it installed, these guys should rot in hell!!! Not just the CEO´s but the programmers too!!

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