Groo
04-04-2001, 05:06 PM
http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,42805,00.html
Judge Seizes Teen's Web Biz
by Jeffrey Benner
2:00 a.m. Apr. 4, 2001 PDT
A federal judge in Minnesota froze the assets of the 18-year-old owner of two shady Web-hosting services called Page Creators and Trinity Host, and seized his businesses.
The Federal Trade Commission requested the court action after filing a civil lawsuit against Bryan Kruchten on Thursday. The FTC wanted to prevent Kruchten from hiding his assets or destroying evidence before the case comes to trial.
The FTC is suing Kruchten in civil court for allegedly swindling his customers out of thousands of dollars in fraudulent charges for "bandwidth overuse." According to FTC investigator Steve Wernikoff, his office found that Kruchten's bandwidth charges were made up.
"He may (as well) said 'I'm charging you this because I had a banana this morning,'" Wernikoff said, alluding to the randomness of the charges.
The suit asks the court to force Kruchten to return the money, and order Kruchten not to use similar deceptive practices again or face criminal prosecution for contempt of court.
No criminal charges have been filed against Kruchten.
The court order is good news for dozens of angry customers who have been fighting for months to get Kruchten shut down. All make the same essential claim: They got screwed by a clever-but-snotty teen who thought he was above the law.
Travis Gochenaur was one of the first victims to alert authorities about Page Creators. Last summer, he called the police in Alexandria, Minnesota, to let them know that a local resident had billed his credit card for $1,000 and attempted to collect $5,000 more -- charges he said were unjustified. The credit card company later agreed and gave him his money back.
"I'm just glad to see something finally got done, so nobody else has to go through this living hell," Gochenaur said. "I was ecstatic when (the FTC) called (Tuesday) morning."
The court order marks the end of a bizarre little saga that could only happen in the Internet age.
Starting in late 1999, Kruchten launched a discount Web-hosting service called Page Creators. The site, now defunct, offered Web-hosting for as low as $10 a month. All users had to do was pop in a credit card number, and their site would be ready in minutes.
Last summer and fall, dozens of Page Creators' customers had their credit cards charged for "bandwidth overuse." These charges typically ran into the thousands of dollars. Some exceeded $10,000. Many who complained to Page Creators about the charges received angry e-mails from Kruchten threatening to sue if they tried to get their money back.
Victims around the world began to find one another via websites dedicated to fighting back against Page Creators. An e-mail list started so victims could share news, and sites dedicated to bringing Kruchten to justice provided information on how to file a complaint with various civil and criminal agencies.
In December, the Better Business Bureau of Minnesota issued an international alert regarding Page Creators, revealing that the Bureau had received complaints about Page Creators from victims in 12 states and eight countries for charges totaling $76,000.
Following a Wired News story on Kruchten's shenanigans, which sparked a discussion about it on Slashdot.org, cyber-vigilantes pillaged the Page Creators website on Dec. 27, 2000. The crackers wiped the site clean except for one slash mark and one dot.
After getting "slash-dotted," Kruchten quickly set up a similar Web-hosting service called Trinity Host. Word quickly circulated that he had resurfaced under a different guise, but no one cracked the new site.
When Kruchten charged Geoff McCabe $9,057 for hosting a website that had received a total of 48 hits, McCabe joined the ranks of incensed citizens eager for revenge. He's happy that officials have finally taken action, but doesn't think a civil suit goes far enough.
"When somebody that young is already ripping people off, I just think he'll do it again," McCabe said. "There are no criminal charges pressed. It's a white-collar crime. You're allowed to rob people and get away with it. I don't know why."
As a civil agency, the FTC does not have jurisdiction over criminal activity. However, should the Minnesota attorney general or the FBI file charges, they could use the evidence the FTC has gathered, Wernikoff said. Thus far, no agency has charged Kruchten with a crime.
Judge Seizes Teen's Web Biz
by Jeffrey Benner
2:00 a.m. Apr. 4, 2001 PDT
A federal judge in Minnesota froze the assets of the 18-year-old owner of two shady Web-hosting services called Page Creators and Trinity Host, and seized his businesses.
The Federal Trade Commission requested the court action after filing a civil lawsuit against Bryan Kruchten on Thursday. The FTC wanted to prevent Kruchten from hiding his assets or destroying evidence before the case comes to trial.
The FTC is suing Kruchten in civil court for allegedly swindling his customers out of thousands of dollars in fraudulent charges for "bandwidth overuse." According to FTC investigator Steve Wernikoff, his office found that Kruchten's bandwidth charges were made up.
"He may (as well) said 'I'm charging you this because I had a banana this morning,'" Wernikoff said, alluding to the randomness of the charges.
The suit asks the court to force Kruchten to return the money, and order Kruchten not to use similar deceptive practices again or face criminal prosecution for contempt of court.
No criminal charges have been filed against Kruchten.
The court order is good news for dozens of angry customers who have been fighting for months to get Kruchten shut down. All make the same essential claim: They got screwed by a clever-but-snotty teen who thought he was above the law.
Travis Gochenaur was one of the first victims to alert authorities about Page Creators. Last summer, he called the police in Alexandria, Minnesota, to let them know that a local resident had billed his credit card for $1,000 and attempted to collect $5,000 more -- charges he said were unjustified. The credit card company later agreed and gave him his money back.
"I'm just glad to see something finally got done, so nobody else has to go through this living hell," Gochenaur said. "I was ecstatic when (the FTC) called (Tuesday) morning."
The court order marks the end of a bizarre little saga that could only happen in the Internet age.
Starting in late 1999, Kruchten launched a discount Web-hosting service called Page Creators. The site, now defunct, offered Web-hosting for as low as $10 a month. All users had to do was pop in a credit card number, and their site would be ready in minutes.
Last summer and fall, dozens of Page Creators' customers had their credit cards charged for "bandwidth overuse." These charges typically ran into the thousands of dollars. Some exceeded $10,000. Many who complained to Page Creators about the charges received angry e-mails from Kruchten threatening to sue if they tried to get their money back.
Victims around the world began to find one another via websites dedicated to fighting back against Page Creators. An e-mail list started so victims could share news, and sites dedicated to bringing Kruchten to justice provided information on how to file a complaint with various civil and criminal agencies.
In December, the Better Business Bureau of Minnesota issued an international alert regarding Page Creators, revealing that the Bureau had received complaints about Page Creators from victims in 12 states and eight countries for charges totaling $76,000.
Following a Wired News story on Kruchten's shenanigans, which sparked a discussion about it on Slashdot.org, cyber-vigilantes pillaged the Page Creators website on Dec. 27, 2000. The crackers wiped the site clean except for one slash mark and one dot.
After getting "slash-dotted," Kruchten quickly set up a similar Web-hosting service called Trinity Host. Word quickly circulated that he had resurfaced under a different guise, but no one cracked the new site.
When Kruchten charged Geoff McCabe $9,057 for hosting a website that had received a total of 48 hits, McCabe joined the ranks of incensed citizens eager for revenge. He's happy that officials have finally taken action, but doesn't think a civil suit goes far enough.
"When somebody that young is already ripping people off, I just think he'll do it again," McCabe said. "There are no criminal charges pressed. It's a white-collar crime. You're allowed to rob people and get away with it. I don't know why."
As a civil agency, the FTC does not have jurisdiction over criminal activity. However, should the Minnesota attorney general or the FBI file charges, they could use the evidence the FTC has gathered, Wernikoff said. Thus far, no agency has charged Kruchten with a crime.