The Gioconda Law Group PLLC and Arthur Wesley Kenzie have settled the dispute that had been pending before the New York federal district court, involving the misspelled domain name GIOCONDOLAW.COM.
The parties to the underlying dispute settled their differences through a mutually acceptable Settlement Agreement under which the GIOCONDOLAW.COM domain name will be permanently transferred to the law firm. The Agreement is in the process of being submitted to the federal district court for final approval.
The parties disagree about whether the particular methodologies employed constitute an 'interception' of e-mail, and could therefore violate the Wiretap Act. Furthermore, Arthur Kenzie has denied any wrongdoing or cybersquatting.
However, both parties agree that the vulnerability that this case exposes is indeed very important and one that all organizations should take seriously.
Furthermore, the public disclosure of discovery in this case may have revealed third parties' vulnerabilities in a manner that could have raised even greater data security concerns.
The use of unencrypted, misaddresses e-mail can create significant security risks to organizations, and all all organizations should also consider registering multiple misspellings of their domain names and using encrypted e-mail protocols to mitigate this risk.