IAR: Fake Domain Sellers Nailed

A handful of companies accused of selling phony domain names such as ".usa" have agreed to a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, which had accused them of operating a scam that may have taken as much as $300,000 from consumers.

Sophisticated users, of course, would not be caught up in anything like this, but it's the constant stream of newbies that has spurred the Internet's growth. And the scam capitalized on Americans' sense of patriotism after the terrorist attacks on the United States.