John Zuccarini: Part of Unasi?
Certain evidence uncovered while preparing this report hinted at the possibility that John Zuccarini could be involved in the Unasi operation. Although the evidence is circumstantial, it is strong enough to be worth mentioning.
About John Zuccarini
John Zuccarini is one of most famous typosquatters of all time. In 2001, his actions led the Federal Trade Commission to charge that his business practices violated federal law. After a court injunction ordered Zuccarini to pay $1.9 million due to cybersquatting activities, Zuccarini was believed to have fled to the Bahamas.1
Seemingly undeterred, Zuccarini's operations apparently continued. The nature of many advertisements on Zuccaini's sites led directly to the Truth in Domain Names Act in 2003, which made it a crime to knowingly entice children to visit pornographic sites.1
Although it was widely assumed that Zuccarini remained in the Bahamas, in 2004, Zuccarini was arrested at a hotel room Hollywood, Florida., where he had been living for 10 months. Zuccarini plead guilty to the charges, was sentenced to 2 and a half years in prison on February 2, 2004, and was released 21 months later on November 4, 2005.1
Circumstantial Evidence
#1: Panama Address
The last National Arbitration Forum dispute cases in which John Zuccarini is the Respondent list Zuccarini as having a Panama address:2
Provincia de Chiriqui,
Volcan, Chiriqui,
Panama
This is of note because the first NAF cases with Unasi as the Respondent list a Panama address.
#2: Bahamas Address
It is widely known that John Zuccarini has a residence in the Bahamas. In addition, the following Bahamas address is listed in a WIPO case dated 2001:3
Saffrey Square, Suite 106,
P.O. Box N-4140,
Nassau N.P., Bahamas
As previously seen, there are no less than three addresses listed for aliases of Unasi.
#3: Adult advertisements
John Zuccarini was convicted due to adult advertisements on typo domains of sites that had a high probability of being visited (and mistyped) by chidren. Likewise, Microsoft's Typo Patrol site documents domains of Unasi that include adult advertisments, including typos of Disney.com4 (see link in footnote for more examples).
#4: Hollywood, Florida
It may have seemed odd at the time that Mr. Zuccarini was found in Hollywood, Florida at the time of his arrest. But now we may know the reason: previously in the report, the address of Barry Wasserstrom, the registered agent of all 3 registrars, was listed as being in Hollywood, Florida. It is possible that Mr. Zuccarini was involved in setting up the 3 registrars at the time of his arrest.
1 Wikipedia John Zuccarini
2 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation v. The Cupcake Patrol a/k/a John Zuccarini (NAF Case No: FA0403000245963) and Zone Labs, Inc. v. John Zuccarini d/b/a The Cupcake Patrol (NAF Case No: FA0308000190613)
3Dow Jones & Company, Inc. and Dow Jones LP v. John Zuccarini, d/b/a Cupcake Patrol, WIPO Case No. D2001-0302
4 research.microsoft.com: Screenshots of Typo-Squatting Domains that Serve Questionable Advertisements
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