Embattled domain name system hacker Eugene Kashpureff got off very lightly for his re-direction of the InterNic’s site to his AlterNic site in July last year, a crime for which he pleaded guilty in March (03/23/98). Facing a maximum sentence of five years in jail and a $250,000 fine, Kashpureff was handed two year’s probation with no real special conditions attached and a token $100 fine. Kashpureff is believed to have very little money at present. He says he is happy with the decision and has no plans to appeal. Kashpureff pulled his stunt as a protest at what he saw as a closed DNS monopoly operated by the US government and its contractors, notably Network Solutions Inc and the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) at the University of Southern California, which between them designate any new top-level domains that are to be added to the DNS root, maintained by NSI. Kashpureff and the AlterNic wanted to add new TLDs, such as .firm, .per. .web and .xxx, among others, although many of the companies and organizations behind those TLDs have since shunned Kashpureff and have joined the various processes that are currently vying for position once the DNS is thrown open to competition by the government come October 1. Kashpureff fled the US last year after the FBI issued a warrant for his arrest following a complaint from an internet user on Long Island, New York. However, Canadian police arrested him and he spent two months in jail in Toronto before being released on bail on Christmas Eve and voluntarily returning to the US to face trial. He says he doesn’t plan to do much with the AlterNic anymore. Anyway, it is doubtful he would be in any position to do so if he could as he doesn’t control the purse-strings of the AlterNic anymore, as he had to hand over control to investors to repay debts. He says his main priority is to spend some time with his four children.
