YNOT – The Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection has prevailed in a dispute with the owner of a website that used a clever spoofing tactic to impersonate the association in an attempt to defraud adult webmasters.
In early 2011, the person or group behind the website ASACP.co.uk, which is not affiliated with child-protection organization ASACP, emailed adult website operators and hosting companies claiming to have discovered illegal child sexual abuse material on their servers. A link in the emails, which appeared to come from former ASACP Chief Executive Officer Joan Irvine, redirected recipients from ASACP.co.uk to ASACP.org, the association’s legitimate website. The association learned about the scam from a webmaster who had received a fraudulent email.
ASACP’s hosting company installed a referrer block redirecting all traffic from the bogus domain to a page indicating the link was invalid.
“ASACP did not own ASACP.co.uk and never sends such emails to individuals or owners of suspected [child pornography] websites,” ASACP Executive Director Tim Henning said. “We forward all confirmed reports of suspect CP directly to law enforcement and other international hotlines, rather than ‘tip-off’ criminal website operators.”
ASACP investigated and filed a report with the FBI through the Internet Crime Complaint Center.
“The ASACP.co.uk domain name was bogusly registered under the name ‘Jane Harman,’ the U.S. congressional leader who honored ASACP for its Restricted to Adults website labeling initiative,” Henning said. “ASACP provided the results of its investigation and the IC3 case number to [Harman’s] California and Washington staff, prompting a speedier investigation.”
When the dust settled, .uk registry Nominet awarded the bogus domain to ASACP.
“As expected, the independent expert who was assigned by Nominet to decide our domain dispute found ASACP has a legitimate interest in the ASACP.co.uk domain name and that the prior registrant does not,” said Marc John Randazza of the Randazza Legal Group, who represented ASACP pro bono in the matter. “As such, we are pleased to report that the domain name will be transferred to [ASACP].
“It was a privilege and an honor to assist ASACP,” Randazza added, noting that he will continue to monitor the domain transfer process.
“Thanks to the efforts of the Randazza Legal Group, a clear message has been sent to those seeking to damage ASACP’s good name,” Henning said. “With its European expansion well underway, it was vital for ASACP to end the confusion and fraud this scam was causing. Securing the ASACP.co.uk domain ends this attack and paves the way for ASACP’s increasing outreach in the U.K. and beyond.”
