First Prosecution Under New US Child Internet Law

E-TIPS reported earlier (April 10, 2003) that the US had enacted the Child Abduction Prevention Act (CAPA).   In the first prosecution under CAPA, on September 3, 2003, John Zuccarini was arrested and charged with registering misleading domains for the purpose of enticing children to pornographic web sites. Using a technique that involved switching or omitting letters in the creation of the domain name, Zuccarini could lure viewers to pornographic material when searching sites such as Britney Spears, Disneyland, and Teletubbies, according to a filed criminal complaint.   Once there, users would fall prey to "mousetrapping", a technique in which the viewer is confronted with even more ads in new windows when they attempt to use the "Back" button or to close created windows. CAPA, more commonly referred to as the "Amber Alert" bill, provides fines and jail terms for those using misleading domain names to attract children to sexually explicit web sites.   If convicted, offenders could face fines and/or a maximum of four years' imprisonment. The Federal Trade Commission has asserted that arbitration panels and courts have found against Zuccarini in at least 98 arbitration proceedings and 53 state and federal lawsuits and that he has been stripped of about 200 web sites.   For additional information, visit: http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1061487992435. Summary by: Hung Nguyen and Colin Adams