Malicious Online Retailer Ordered Held Without Bail 225
Zaphod_85 writes "You may remember the New York Times story from a couple of weeks ago regarding Vitaly Borker, an online retailer intentionally harassing customers in order to gain linking points in Google's PageRank algorithm. Now, not only has Google altered their algorithm in order to prevent this tactic from being effective (Though according to Katherine Noyes at PCWorld, this tactic may never actually have been benefiting the website in the first place), Now Mr. Borker has the Feds to deal with. He is being charged with cyberstalking, wire fraud, mail fraud, and making interstate threats, and faces up to 50 years in prison if convicted on all counts. Given his disturbing behavior that brought about the charges, a federal judge has ordered he be held without bail while he awaits trial."
Re:Based on what I have read about the guy... (Score:5, Interesting)
I have to enter a fair amount of data to prove I am who I say I am with American Express
Right... and most of that information is available to an online retailer once you've made a purchase. Home address, phone numbers, legal name, heck you could easily ask for a DOB even though it's not required, and most people will blindly enter it. That pretty much covers most identity questions, and a simple "friendly" phone call can fill in a few other blanks like spouse's name, stuff like that. If credit cards were even borderline secure, I'd still have one. I prefer cash, because if someones screws with my cash, they have to be within pummeling distance, and that's the kind of security I like.
Re:I'm Surprised He's in Good Health (Score:4, Interesting)
Three points:
1) He lived in NYC, where being a humongous dickhead is basically the norm, especially in business. (I know some very nice people from NYC, but I've been there before and I've done business there, so I'm not just reciting a tired stereotype.)
2) I would guess that the demographic of people buying glasses over the internet via their computers are not usually the violent type.
3) When someone this batshit-crazy harasses and threatens you, your self-preservation mechanism tells you to just call it a loss and stay as far away as possible.
Re:Queue the libertarians.. (Score:4, Interesting)
Is this really a problem that required a law?
A state with a low population like AZ (not to pick on AZ undeservedly here) would be presented with a good motive to set itself up with a predatory policy based on e.g. light criminal penalties for making threats against people in general. (Which it wouldn't for crimes of local consequence, like car theft or vandalism.) The benefit would be to make AZ more attractive to anyone looking to set up shop who plans to make money ripping off and abusing customers who are mostly going to live out-of-state anyway. If the population of your state is low enough, policies start to look attractive that encourage picking on people in other states by encouraging picking on people in general.
/IANAL
This is similar to how NV legalized gambling, or how the credit industry is based in ND. In general interstate commerce is something that presents a conflict of interest to a state legislature, so crimes involving it get singled out for federal nitpicking. I'm not surprised that there's a law against threatening to injure the person of someone in an interstate business conversation. Interstate commerce gets used like a hat rack by the feds, but a law like that seems pretty basic if you're going to submit interstate commerce to any regulative structure at all.
This case is different from your typical predatory industry. A collection agency for example is trying to get money out of people; it may be perfectly willing to abuse them, but only in order to get the money. What makes this guy weird is that he stalked people in order to get free advertising.
Re:Oh well. (Score:4, Interesting)
Agreed. Though this particular asshole deserves the full stretch.
Pun intended.
I'm disappointed this was modded funny. Rape in any form isn't funny, its a nightmare.
A society allowing it to go on in prisons and then making jokes about it is all kinds of screwed up.