For the blackhatters out there that say “cookie stuffing isn’t illegal and all is fair in love and affiliate marketing” – I say you better take a very close look at this case! Cookie stuffing is NOT an acceptable practice and is prohibited by most affiliate programs. The affiliate that generates the END USER ACTION of a REAL CLICK is the affiliate that should get the commission. Plus as you’ll see in the 2 cases below it can get you in trouble with the law.

This new case involves a developer of a cookie stuffing app that targeted eBay and helped the dishonest cookie stuffing affiliates that bought the script steal unearned commissions from both eBay and affiliates that rightly deserved and would have otherwise earned the commission.

Feds say dev’s ‘cookie-stuffer’ app fleeced eBay

Dubbed saucekit, the program deposited a cookie on end users’ hard drives that contained a unique code identifying affiliate websites even though advertisements from those sites were never viewed, according to documents filed Tuesday in US District Court in San Jose, California. Users who went on to take “revenue actions” on eBay would cause the affiliate to receive a referral fee it was not entitled to…

Kennedy was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He faces a maximum of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000, in addition to possible restitution.

In addition to the possible fine and restitution above, he’s going to have a boat load of legal fees to pay.

Back in 2008 I blogged about another big Ebay cookie stuffing case which included several people including the owner of Digital Point. That case is still ongoing and must be costing the defendants a fortune in attorney fees.

Original Post: eBay Sues High Profile Affiliate for Cookie Stuffing and Fraud

Link to ongoing case filings in the case: eBay Inc. v. Digital Point Solutions

Cookie Stuffing doesn’t pay!

Discussion at ABestWeb: “Feds say dev’s ‘cookie-stuffer’ app fleeced eBay”

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