Man charged with stealing internet domain name

A New Jersey man has been charged with stealing an internet domain name and selling it to a professional basketball player, the state’s police department said earlier this week.

Daniel Goncalves hacked into an online account of one the people who owned the P2P.com domain name, and allegedly took control of the website, then sold it via eBay to professional basketballer Mark Madsen. He bought the site for $US111,000, and still holds the ownership of the site.

Interestingly, the original owners of the site did not report the theft of the site when it first occurred.

The case is one of the first of its kind. Goncalves was arrested last week on charges of theft by unlawful taking or deception, identity theft and computer theft. He remains out of custody after paying a $US60,000 bail.

“[Law enforcement] is usually a few years behind new technology trends,” Jeremiah Johnston, president of the Internet Commerce Association told The Age. “That’s frustrating when you have domain names selling for seven figures.”