Domain Name News

Posted: 22 Jul 2011 12:27 PM PDT

Back in November of 2009, Daniel Goncalves was indicted on charges that he had stolen the domain name p2p.com from domain name investor Marc Ostrofsky and Albe and Leslie Angel. The details of the case and investigation were docmented in a story on DNN published in August 2009.

Although there have been other notable cases of domain names being stolen, most notable being Sex.com, this news marks the first time an individual has been arrested, prosecuted and sentenced for a domain name theft.

According to the whois the domain p2p.com is now back in the Albe’s hands. The domain name had been stolen and sold to a third party, NBA star Mark Madsen. Madsen purchased the domain name in September of 2006 from Goncalves on Ebay for $150,000.

Goncalves plead guilty to the charges and was sentenced today in Superior Court Judge Stuart Piem in Union County, New Jersey.

In talking to the Albes in 2009 it was clear a lot of effort went in to tracking down this criminal and making the case stick. The diligent effort by the victims over the course of 5 years is notable enough, and I know that they agree that it took a team effort. Domain professionals Richard Lau, Ellen Rony and Josh Pelissero, as well as cyber-crime law enforcement effort by Detective Sergeant John Gorman and prosecutor Kenneth Sharpe led this case to the successful resolution.

Full press release available here.

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