The attorney for domain-name agent provocateur Eugene Kashpureff will start a defense fund for his client, who has been jailed since Halloween in Toronto on US wire- and computer-fraud charges related to his illicit redirection of Web traffic earlier this year.
Since his arrest, Kashpureff has been subject to another kind of redirection - in the Canadian court system. He has been bounced from hearing to hearing as police and immigration officials proceed in separate efforts to send him back to the United States.
"Yesterday we adjourned to today, and today we adjourned to 12 December," said Kashpureff attorney William Gilmour. Kashpureff, who is rich only in scheduled court appearances, is also set to appear for an immigration hearing on 8 December, said Kevin Sack of Canada's Immigration Department.
"There's two things going on here," explained Gilmour. "There's an attempt to get rid of him by means of the Immigration Act, and there's also an attempt to have him extradited."
When the extradition proceedings come before the court again, the defense will try to set a new date for the bail hearing - depending on what transpires in the meantime.
"There's lots of things that are happening that I'm not at liberty to talk about," said Gilmour.
Kashpureff was granted and subsequently denied bail earlier this week.
Gilmour said he is making a public call for support for Kashpureff, who is in need of money and will need legal representation upon his return to the United States. A defense fund is being set up on Kashpureff's behalf, the details of which will be released by Gilmour after the trust account has been opened.
Kashpureff's troubles date back to the summer, when he twice redirected Web users seeking Network Solution Inc.'s InterNIC domain-name registry to his own registry site, AlterNIC. Networks Solutions sued, but settled out of court when Kashpureff issued a public apology and a promise to desist from similar pranks in the future. Nevertheless, the FBI filed the criminal charges that led to his 31 October arrest.
