Panel Hears Fraud Schemes Involving Porn

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A House panel was told Thursday that the “early adopters” of the Internet have seized on opportunities against consumers – and most of the fraudulent activity involves online pornography.

Howard Beales, the Federal Trade Commission’s director, also said that peer-to-peer software can expose consumers to unwanted pornography, as well as games, videos and music that may be inappropriate for children.

Beales told the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce that although the Internet has empowered consumers with instant access to a breadth of information, “fraud artists also have proven adept at exploiting this new technology for their own gain.”

He spoke at a hearing titled, “Online Pornography: Closing the Doors on Pervasive Smut.”

Beales, citing numerous incidents involving deceptive and unfair practices in the distribution of online pornography, said it has brought over 300 Internet-related enforcement actions.

In one example, Beales said the FTC sued John Zuccarini, who registered some 6,000 domain names that were misspellings of popular websites for “mousetrapping” consumers.

Beales said that in a ploy designed to capture teenage Internet users, Zuccarini registered 15 variations of the popular children's cartoon site, www.cartoonnetwork.com – for example “cartoon netwok” instead of “cartoon network” and 41 variations on the name of teen pop star Britney Spears.

Beales said that surfers who looked for a site, but misspelled its web address, were taken to the defendant's sites.

“Once consumers arrived, Zuccarini’s websites were programmed to take control of their Internet browsers and force the consumers to view explicit advertisements for pornographic websites, as well as websites advertising gambling and psychic services,” Beales said. “The obstruction allegedly was so severe in this case that consumers often were forced to choose between taking up to 20 minutes to close out all of the Internet windows, or turning off their computers, and losing all of their ‘pre-mousetrap’ work.”

After being sued, Beales said Zuccarini disappeared but was later found and convicted.

As for file-sharing programs, Beales said filters that block access to materials that contain adult-related or offensive content, “operate by only examining language found in the title or descriptor of the file, rather than the content of the file.”

Moreover, Beales said, the filters “may not be effective when users label files inaccurately, which can result in the transfer of files with pornographic or other unwanted content.”

The FTC was one of many federal agencies or groups asked to testify before the subcommittee.

Beales was joined by the FBI’s Kevin Lourdeau; Linda Koontz of the General Accounting Office; Charlie Catlett of the Senior Fellow Computation Institute; Martin C. Lafferty of the Distributed Computing Industry Association; Norbert Dunkel of the University of Florida; Penny Nance of the Kids First Coalition; and Ernie Allen of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Copyright © 2025 Adnet Media. All Rights Reserved. XBIZ is a trademark of Adnet Media.
Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited.

More News

AEBN Reveals Eva Maxim as Top Trans Star for Q2 of 2025

AEBN has published its top trans stars list for the second quarter of 2025, with Eva Maxim landing atop the leaderboard.

Pastelle Makes Her TransAngels Debut

Pastelle has made her TransAngels debut alongside Ali Rush in "Royal Sucksession."

A Day With Mike Quasar: Porn, Pets and Wit That Won't Quit

Mike Quasar has been working in the adult industry for 34 years. The highly respected veteran director admits to feeling a little astonished by this fact.

Kelly Holland's Industry Animal Rescue Charity Event 'Vice Is Nice' Returns Saturday

The 13th annual Vice Is Nice event, a long-standing adult industry fundraiser for Animal Rescue Alliance (TARA), will take place Saturday in Chatsworth.

France Reinstates Age Verification Rule for EU Sites

France’s highest court, the Council of State, on Tuesday reinstated age verification rules for EU-based sites under the country’s Security and Regulation of the Digital Space (SREN) law, ruling in favor of the French government and against Hammy Media.

Whisper Fans Joins Pineapple Support as Supporter-Level Sponsor

Whisper Fans has joined the ranks of over 70 adult businesses and organizations committing funds and resources to Pineapple Support.

Angela White Stars in Latest From Brazzers

Angela White stars with Scott Nails in the latest release from Brazzers, titled "Brazzers Beach."

Utherverse Launches 'Red Light Center' Virtual World

Virtual reality and metaverse technology company Utherverse has launched its new virtual world, RedLightCenter.io.

Show More