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Shawn Hogan Sentenced - eBays #1 affiliate gets 5 months in federal prison! OUCH!

Discussion in 'General Chat' started by GuruCreation, May 2, 2014.

  1. #1
    GuruCreation, May 2, 2014 IP
  2. Spoiltdiva

    Spoiltdiva Acclaimed Member

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    #2
    No need to wait, he's online now. And why is this any of your business?
     
    Spoiltdiva, May 2, 2014 IP
    yakusokutebayo likes this.
  3. Dave Goehst

    Dave Goehst Well-Known Member

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    #3
    Yeah, I get email alerts from Insider...lol...wonder how much he profits off this site.

    You know FBI will be watching this forum now, I would say, especially since there's plenty of areas it appears unscrupulous activities are being allowed to transpire.
     
    Dave Goehst, May 2, 2014 IP
  4. digitalpoint

    digitalpoint Overlord of no one Staff

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    #4
    Funny, I was just going to create a thread since I knew someone else would soon.

    Anyway, long story short is that this has been going on since 2007, so this ends everything (including civil case with eBay).

    I've spent millions in legal fees over the last 7 years, and taking both the criminal and civil stuff to trial would have cost many millions more. So I look at it this way... I'm not sure we would have lost the case had it gone to trial, but there's no guarantee. It's cheaper to settle/take a plea deal, and not have to worry about something crazy happening in a trial where a jury feels like they are doing you a "favor" and fine you $10M restitution and put you in prison for 10 years.

    When the option presents itself to do a global settlement that ends the criminal and civil suit, spend a few months at prison camp, well... it's something you will seriously consider regardless if you think you could have prevailed in the civil or criminal suits. After 7 years neither had even gone to trial yet and would have cost many millions of dollars to defend (so in a best case scenario, you are out millions of dollars to defend something, and probably spend another 5 years of your life dealing with the legal system). Just want to get all this dumb stuff over with really. :)
     
    digitalpoint, May 2, 2014 IP
  5. GuruCreation

    GuruCreation Notable Member

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    #5
    He's always online... It's all of our business, that's why it's called Business Insider....lol

    Anyway, Shawn is a bad ASS dude no matter how you look at it and just in case you wanted to know, he's a RICH MOFO too!

    Holla!
     
    GuruCreation, May 2, 2014 IP
    indyonline likes this.
  6. Dave Goehst

    Dave Goehst Well-Known Member

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    #6
    Maybe taking a plea is the best course of action. Making that an Alford plea would've been better because when you get a Fed case and take a plea, the Feds will always have you on radar moving forward, and having a felony doesn't make things easier, either.
     
    Dave Goehst, May 2, 2014 IP
  7. digitalpoint

    digitalpoint Overlord of no one Staff

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    #7
    Doesn't really matter to me to be honest, I'm not doing anything they would have a remote interest in, and having a felony isn't all that bad (has it's upside too).

    With a felony, you can't:
    • Serve on a jury for jury duty (oh darn... lol)
    • Vote (while, I should have voted in my life, I've never had the time... I've never registered to vote because I don't know how, and also because I think the voting system is so screwy with the electoral system that a vote from someone in California [never a close state], really has no meaning). So I'll continue to not vote.
    • Own a gun (never have owned a gun or even shot a gun in my life... not that I'm against guns, just never interested me).
    Maybe more difficult to get a good job, but I'm also not looking for employment, so...
     
    digitalpoint, May 2, 2014 IP
    Karen May Jones and rsrikanth05 like this.
  8. Spoiltdiva

    Spoiltdiva Acclaimed Member

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    #8
    Maybe you missed the part where he has spent *millions* on legal fees. He's probably not as rich as you think he is.:)
     
    Spoiltdiva, May 2, 2014 IP
  9. digitalpoint

    digitalpoint Overlord of no one Staff

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    #9
    Not starving or living under a bridge or anything... but also wouldn't consider myself "rich". If anyone *actually* knows me, they also know I'm not money driven, so I have no desire to try to "get rich" either.
     
    digitalpoint, May 2, 2014 IP
  10. Dave Goehst

    Dave Goehst Well-Known Member

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    #10
    True, but the Feds are funny. They think once you've stuck your hands in that proverbial cookie jar, it will somehow end up back there. Personally, if you're making bank off DP and whatever else, good for you. I'm just saying that Feds look for everyone to repeat offend (unless you're Bernie Madoff and get a nearly two century sentence the first time around). Although it's pretty safe to say that I'm sure affiliate sites are probably scrambling to make sure cookie stuffing isn't happening anymore...
     
    Dave Goehst, May 2, 2014 IP
  11. digitalpoint

    digitalpoint Overlord of no one Staff

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    #11
    Either way, they can look at whatever they want... it's nothing too interesting, so... :)

    You would think so, but some programs actually encourage it. Maybe not at the company level, but when you pay your affiliate program managers based on "how well" the affiliate program is doing, there definitely are some affiliate program managers that will encourage it.

    Until they stop compensating the program managers based on how much the affiliates under them make, you will always have program managers encouraging it.

    Check the "Cookie Stuffers" section here: https://tools.digitalpoint.com/cookie-search
     
    digitalpoint, May 2, 2014 IP
  12. GuruCreation

    GuruCreation Notable Member

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    #12
    NO doubt!....... but, I don't have millions to spend in legal fees either, that's for sure! :(
     
    GuruCreation, May 2, 2014 IP
  13. Dave Goehst

    Dave Goehst Well-Known Member

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    #13
    That's a pretty nifty tool - although I'm not that 'astute' when it comes to that sort of stuff.
     
    Dave Goehst, May 2, 2014 IP
  14. Dave Goehst

    Dave Goehst Well-Known Member

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    #14
    I would definitely suggest doing away with these sales threads because, from what I'm reading, it's allowing people to get into doing ignorant stuff to each other. Or at least whack the ones that are seen as problematic since it appears your visitors are going all over the site and not necessarily to those areas anyway.
     
    Dave Goehst, May 2, 2014 IP
  15. digitalpoint

    digitalpoint Overlord of no one Staff

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    #15
    Well, that has nothing to do with this topic, but yeah... that's why the Deprecated areas were replaced:

    Anything here has been deprecated (and not indexed by Google on top of it):
    https://forums.digitalpoint.com/forums/deprecated.96/

    Those areas have been replaced with the Digital Goods sections that give us more management/control: https://marketplace.digitalpoint.com/

    The "Other" section are areas that aren't (yet) deprecated, but are moving in that direction... threads aren't indexed by Google and only premium members are allowed to post new threads (these are the areas we deem problematic and are trying to just phase out without it being a totally abrupt thing for those that rely on them for whatever reason): https://forums.digitalpoint.com/forums/other.24/

    Again, this thread is not the right place to talk about it though. If you want to talk about the problematic areas, go here: https://forums.digitalpoint.com/threads/problematic-buy-sell-trade-areas.2702436/
     
    digitalpoint, May 2, 2014 IP
  16. Tekime

    Tekime Well-Known Member

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    #16
    Damn Shawn. Do your time, go back to life & wash your hands of it I guess. And probably lay off the cookie stuffing.

    Side note: having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that you don't consider yourself "rich" but are a top AdSense affiliate. LOL! Just goes to show it's all relative. :)
     
    Tekime, May 2, 2014 IP
  17. digitalpoint

    digitalpoint Overlord of no one Staff

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    #17
    Google doesn't report people's earnings to people, so any of those "top earners" rankings are totally fabricated.
     
    digitalpoint, May 2, 2014 IP
  18. Tekime

    Tekime Well-Known Member

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    #18
    And yet you had millions to spend on legal fees. Just saying. It's all relative... there is some sick wealth out there. I'm sure we're all poor compared to those bastards.
     
    Tekime, May 2, 2014 IP
  19. browntwn

    browntwn Illustrious Member

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    #19
    Congratulations on finding a solution to put this behind you and minimize the risk you were facing of some potentially really bad outcomes. I'm sure it is a relief to finally know there is a light at the end of the tunnel and when you will get there.
     
    browntwn, May 2, 2014 IP
  20. Greg B

    Greg B Well-Known Member

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    #20
    The whole incident looks like another case of 'punish the successful'. I've seen this too much here in the U.S.. You engage in a successful business, build up equity and capital and the powers that be just have to target you to bite off a piece of your action. That's why people are fleeing California and New York States. You can't start a business in California and stay in the black from day one.
     
    Greg B, May 2, 2014 IP