Shawn D. Hogan (born September 1, 1975) is the founder and

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of Digital Point Solutions, a San Diego-based business software provider. He became well-known when the article "Shawn Hogan, Hero" appeared in the August 2006 edition of the magazine ''

Wired ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Fra ...

'', detailing his firm stand against a

Motion Picture Association of America The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the five major film studios of the United States, as well as the video streaming service Netflix. Founded in 1922 as the Motion Picture Producers and Distribu ...

(MPAA) lawsuit. Accused of downloading the motion picture, '' Meet the Fockers'', via the BitTorrent network, he received a call in November 2005 from an MPAA lawyer explaining that he was being sued, and that the MPAA would settle for $2,500. Hogan maintains his innocence, pointing out that he owns a legitimate copy of the DVD. The case is unusual in that Hogan, as a millionaire, has been willing to risk the substantial legal fees on this point of principle. As he told Wired magazine, "They’re completely

abusing the system Gaming the system (also rigging, abusing, cheating, milking, playing, working, or breaking the system, or gaming or bending the rules) can be defined as using the rules and procedures meant to protect a system to, instead, manipulate the system ...

... I would spend well into the millions on this." However, in August 2007, Hogan quietly settled with Universal, and S.D. Cal. case no. CV 06-00545 was dismissed. In August 2008,

eBay eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became a ...

filed suit against Hogan, Brian Dunning and his brother Todd Dunning accusing them of defrauding eBay and eBay affiliates in a

cookie stuffing On the World Wide Web, cookie stuffing (also cookie dropping) is an affiliate marketing technique in which, as a result of visiting a website, a user receives a third-party cookie from a website unrelated to that visited by the user, usually wit ...

scheme. Hogan was paid over $28 million in affiliate commissions by eBay. On 24 June 2010, based on the same allegations and following an investigation by the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

(FBI), a

grand jury A grand jury is a jury—a group of citizens—empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a pe ...

indicted Hogan on charges of

wire fraud Mail fraud and wire fraud are terms used in the United States to describe the use of a physical or electronic mail system to fraud, defraud another, and are Federal crime in the United States, federal crimes there. Jurisdiction is claimed by the ...

and criminal forfeiture. as of 2012 Hogan was being prosecuted, and is free on $100,000 bond. On May 2, 2014, Hogan was sentenced to five months in a Federal prison, a $25,000 fine and three years probation. Brian Dunning was sentenced to fifteen months in prison and a $100 fine.

References

External links

Slate article

Digital Point Homepage
1975 births Living people 21st-century American businesspeople {{US-business-bio-1970s-stub