Eugene Kashpureff, the founder of the AlterNIC domain-name registry who has been behind Canadian bars since Halloween, is about to be sent to New York to face federal wire and computer fraud charges, his lawyer said today.
"Yesterday, he waived his right to resist extradition," said Kashpureff attorney William Gilmour. "There should be an order signed today, and he should be heading back to the States momentarily."
Kashpureff faces wire and computer fraud charges after hacking Network Solutions' InterNIC - the exclusive registry for top-level domains like .com and .org - and redirecting its traffic to AlterNIC this summer. Until now, he has been fighting the possibility and arguing that US authorities, who issued a warrant that led to his arrest by Royal Canadian Mounted Police on 31 October, were overreacting. He has been denied bail and held in a Toronto lockup since his arrest.
Although Network Solutions sued Kashpureff for holding its site hostage for several days to protest its exclusive domain deal, the two parties quickly settled out of court. The FBI, however, continued developing the case after the settlement and got a New York federal court to issue a warrant for Kashpureff's arrest.
The long process of US court proceedings could begin as early as Friday or the beginning of next week, said Gilmour.
While Kashpureff has recently acquired legal representation for his pending case in the States, Gilmour said his client is still strapped for cash and that his defense fund has not drawn a lot of interest. "The defense fund is applicable to his defense costs in the United States as well - if anybody wants to donate to it, I'll certainly see that the money goes down to his benefit in the United States," he said.
Gilmour could not say whether or not his lack of funds and time in jail was what prompted him to waive his rights.
"He spent the better part of two months in jail for something that's pretty stupid," he said.
