Here is an update today on Digital Point Cookie Stuff Case: http://www.revenews.com/kelliestevens/affiliates-indicted-for-cookie-stuffing/
I actually read the whole complaint, those are some serious allegations and it sounds like they demonstrated their case very well. The only thing I would add to the article is that the maximum sentence could potentially be 30 years (10 years for § 1030 and 20 for § 1962) although it is highly unlikely they would be served consecutively. Getting the maximum sentence at all is highly unlikely if convinced because this is a rather small scheme.
Interesting. Especially the use of Rico, which entails treble damages and punitive. Good luck collecting that judgment though.
That is what they are suing for, that was not necessarily all fraudulent money. According to the complaint, eBay is going after all the commission money regardless of it was fraudulently gained or not. Large racketeering and fraud schemes are often involve political people and much more serious crimes used in conjunction. The Madoff case is an example of a large one (that was enormous).
My thoughts exactly! $20 million is no small sum. ...my question is, what is the future for Digital Point?
If I recall correctly, in their civil case eBay believed they could definitively prove around $500,000 in fraud. Assuming that figure hasn't changed, I guess it will be up to a jury to determine if someone capable of making $15 Million legitimately would steal $500k, or if the behavior points to more than the $500k being stolen.
Just because ebay says it is that amount does not mean that it is. Damages in civil cases always include everything they can possibly stuff in, the courts must decide how much of it is due. It will be interesting to see how the courts decide how much money was actually stolen, because if DP did do this they clearly did an excellent job to avoid detection for so long. While rather small was probably a poor way to my thoughts on the size of the case, I would not consider it a large one. This is because 500k really is not that much to corporations as large as ebay and DP, plus there are few aggravating factors (such as abuse of public office or violent crimes). The maximum sentences (10 and 20 years) are reserved for the really large frauds that included other aggravating factors (which often carry their own sentence as well).
While no one condones cookie stuffing, it will be a shame if DP vanishes - we'll all have to hang out on the 'newbie' forum (begins 'warr...')
I'm actually very impressed that the prosecution seems comfortable enough with the technology to make a strong case. The outcome of this case will make an impact on affiliate marketing, but there will always be people who spend all of their time and energy looking to beat the system, instead of working hard to be successful within it. After all, hard work takes longer and we are a selfish society. Everyone wants their success now...no matter what it takes. If the devil was walking around making deals, half of our society would owe their souls in exchange for personal success and money.
It must have been one impressive ring to stuff $20m using cookies... Just think of what they could have done if they put their brains on doing something legal... trying to make money via ill-gain ways will not end well for anyone.
Or if they had just made a few hundred thousand or even a few mill and quit. Greed is the all natural authority. People always get caught because of it.
Probably eBay put the entire case together for them and eBay money and political influence convinced the prosecution to take the case to court.
And what's more their number 1 and number 2 affiliates were earning 97% of all commissions - no wonder eBay smelt a rat and then investigated
That's a lot of money. This is a difficult subject. Credit needs to be given where credit is due. I can do a lot of marketing for my affiliate and don't get the credit because normal people don't understand how sales work and you have to give credit to others for helping you make your decision. This is a huge aspect about sales. You don't get all kinds of information from someone and take up all their time to give a commission to someone who does nothing or little at all. Just my 2 cents.
Hi blog is actually quite interesting. He seems to be saying that ebay 'encouraged' him to do the shady stuff in order to get him above $1 million a month in commissions. As long as compliance didn't spot it...