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Tuesday, Business Insider reported that Martin Shkreli has spent the last several months buying up domain names associated with at least eight journalists who have criticized him. The pharmaceutical entrepreneur, who was convicted earlier this month of securities fraud, has now begun to customize the sites with the goal of mocking the reporters.
On a site associated with CNBC reporter Caroline Moss for example, Shkreli wrote "Everything you need to know about this CNBC safe spacer." A similar site bearing Vanity Fair writer Maya Kosoff's name sarcastically reads "Here we honor one of the most vibrant Social Justice advocates today." A WHOIS lookup confirms that both websites were registered with domain provider GoDaddy by Martin Shkreli earlier this year.
Shkreli offered to sell a domain connected to NY Post reporter Emily Saul to her for $12,000, according to Business Insider. On a phone call, Shkreli told me the proposal was a joke. "I'm a very rich guy. I don't need $12,000," he said. "I would never sell any of these domains for any price." Saul declined to comment, citing company policy.
Shkreli is clearly trying to agitate, but is what he's doing illegal? According to Shkreli, the answer is no. "This is not illegal," he told me. "There's nothing illegal about buying a domain name that's the same name as someone's name." He mentioned he had consulted lawyers before purchasing the websites, which he told me were bought to test software on the backend that his new company is developing.
According to a legal expert I spoke to, Shkreli could be wrong. Several federal cyberlaws protect individuals like the journalists Shkreli targeted from domain disputes like this one. "There are certainly a fair number of options that these individuals would have," David J. Steele, a lawyer specializing in trademark and internet law and a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, told me on a phone call.
What's working against Shkreli, according to Steele, is that he has purchased numerous domains. "You can show a pattern of abusive registrations," he said.
Steele outlined for me three main ways domain disputes like the one Shkreli started can be legally resolved:
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https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/...al-to-buy-domain-names-to-harass-your-enemies
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