Extortion?

[cult hero <jericho () ATTRITION ORG>]

(don't have a URL or title, but interesting)


TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - A graduate student at Colorado State University has
been arrested and accused of trying to extort money, a car and free
downloads from a New Jersey company that sold digital books over the
Internet.

The Wayne-based company, which was not named by federal authorities,
received 10 threatening e-mails from an account of Nelson Robert Holcomb
in April and May, according to court papers filed by the FBI.

The e-mails said the sender had discovered how to download the books for
free and would not reveal the weakness in return for a sum equal to the
retail value of the content on the company's Web site, a 2001 Volvo wagon,
two digital audio players, and unlimited free downloads of the company's
content, court papers said.

After the company agreed to provide everything except the money, it got an
e-mail the next day from someone who identified himself as Rob
Holcomb. The sender gave a mailing address and work phone number at the
school's chemistry department in Fort Collins, Colo., court papers said.

Another e-mail from Holcomb's school account said he would be willing to
sign a nondisclosure agreement, the papers said.

Holcomb, 36, was arrested at his Fort Collins, Colo., home Wednesday.

Bail was set at $50,000 in federal court in Denver and the judge barred
Holcomb from any Internet access and from disseminating information about
the company, said Michael Drewniak, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's
office in Newark, where the charges were filed.

Messages left at Holcomb's work number in the chemistry department were
not immediately returned Wednesday and the phone at his home rang
unanswered.

If convicted of the single charge of using the Internet to send extortion
threats, Holcomb could face up to two years in prison and a $100,000 fine.

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