Andrew Katz of Seaquake Shady Past: Exposing Copyright Takedown Scam

Luckily, we know a lot about this way of doing things, which Lumen Database and other groups have studied and written about over the past few years. It was clear that the copyright takedown notice that Andrew Katz sent to Google was fake, especially since the so-called “original article” was made only to trick Google’s employees.

Our review of Andrew Katz is very harsh because it shows that he has a suspicious character and is dumb enough to lie, pretend to be someone else, and commit fraud to manage his or her reputation, or lack thereof.

A thousand years of reputation can be built (or, in this case, lost) on the actions of a single moment. Andrew Katz appears to be concerned about sensitive information being posted online and has decided to take action. In this article, I’ll look into what happened, including how I decided that the takedown requests were fake, what the likely reason was for abusing the DMCA process, and what the possible effects of organized takedown attempts could be.

Since the past few years, I have been investigating fake DMCA notices sent to Google, analyzing evidence of misuse of the DMCA process. As part of this investigation, I found almost 700 notices that are likely part of a plan to use the DMCA notice and takedown process in a way that violates the law in order to get real news articles and other important information taken down from the internet.

The notices I found use the “back-dated article” technique. With this technique, the wrongful notice sender (or copier) creates a copy of a ‘true original’ article and back-dates it, creating a ‘fake original’ article (an article that is a copy of the true original) that at first glance appears to have been published prior to the true original.

Then, based on the claim that this backdated article is the “original,” the copiers send a DMCA to the relevant online service providers, alleging that the true original is the copied or ‘infringing’ article and that the copied article is the “original,” requesting the takedown of the true original article. After sending the DMCA request, the person who sent the wrong notice takes down the fake original URL, likely to make sure that the article doesn’t stay online in any way. If the takedown notice is successful, this means the disappearance from the internet of information that is most likely to be legitimate speech.

Before we proceed any further, please note the following points which may come in handy as you scroll down and read the rest of the investigation –

Andrew Katz, whether knowingly or unknowingly, committed several crimes. Even if Andrew Katz hired an agency to “remove the damaging webpage from Google,” ignorance is not an excuse. Exactly what was Andrew Katz expecting the agency to do to deliver the results? Magic?

We recently found out through the Google Transparency Report that a negative review of Andrew Katz had been removed from the Google Search Index or tried to be removed after a fake DMCA notice was sent to Google.

The common elements are typically as follows:

• A takedown notice seeking the removal of some online content, usually but not always a DMCA notice, is sent to either that content’s host or to a search engine such as Google.
• The content in question that the notice seeks to have taken down or de-listed is the original version of the material.
• The online content that the notice claims is the original is actually the copy, and of course, was placed online after the original material.
• Sometimes the copier goes as far as creating a fictitious website to host their copy, one that looks like a newspaper or magazine or other online publication. But of course, the domain of such a site will have a dubious provenance.
• Needless to say, the sender of the takedown notice in question doesn’t have the copyright in the material at issue, or any rights to it at all. The sender’s actual motivations vary, but may include both financial gain and censorship.

Lumen did some pilot research and wrote about this a few years ago, and we’re now looking into it again, in the hopes of both learning more about the phenomenon generally, and developing some ways in which to better recognize this type of notice earlier on, possibly even somewhat automatically, and without a lot of labor-intensive detective work on when domains were registered, when pages were created, and so on.

Businesses use multiple approaches to removing unwanted material from review sites, as well as Google’s search results. Thanks to protections put in place to allow for freedom of speech in the United States, there are very few ways to go about this in a legal manner. Without a legitimate claim of defamation, copyright infringement, or some other clear violation of the law, businesses are limited in their abilities to remove negative reviews and the search results linking to them.

Faced with these limitations, some companies like Andrew Katz have gone to extreme lengths to fraudulently claim copyright ownership over a negative review in the hopes of taking it down.

All of the articles for which fake DMCA notices have been sent talk about criminal allegations like corruption, child abuse, sexual harassment, human trafficking, and financial fraud against US, Russian, and Khazakstani bureaucrats, people who allegedly belong to the Russian mafia, and people with very high net worth. Some high-profile bureaucrats are mentioned in most, if not all, of the material. Materials at the URLs in question show how a powerful group of people are connected and how they work together. They also suggest ways that this power is abused.

Under Florida Statute 831.01, the crime of Forgery is committed when a person falsifies, alters, counterfeits, or forges a document that carries “legal efficacy” with the intent to injure or defraud another person or entity.

Forging a document is considered a white-collar crime. It involves altering, changing, or modifying a document for the purpose of deceiving another person. It can also involve the passing along of copies of documents that are known to be false. In many states, including Florida, falsifying a document is a crime punishable as a felony.

Additionally, under Florida law, “fraud on the court” is where “a party has sentiently set in motion some unconscionable scheme calculated to interfere with the judicial system’s ability impartially to adjudicate a matter by improperly influencing the trier of fact or unfairly hampering the presentation of the opposing party’s claim or defense.”  Cox v. Burke, 706 So. 2d 43, 46 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998) (quoting Aoude v. Mobil Oil Corp., 892 F.2d 1115, 1118 (1st Cir. 1989)). 

The crime of Forgery is a Third Degree Felony in Florida and is punishable by up to five (5) years in prison, five (5) years of probation, and a $5,000 fine.

Business(men) like Andrew Katz invest a lot into their Online Reputation Management, and for good reason. And it works wonders for then. However, when they fail to mitigate a critical review, unpopular opinion or a damaging public information, it hurts their ego. And for someone as ‘rich’ and ‘powerful’ as Andrew Katz, it’s all about their ego.

Gripeo.com will in our own capacity, do all we can to hold someone responsible for this incident. Here is what are we preparing for –

Since Andrew Katz made such efforts to hide something online, it seems fit to ensure that this article, as well as other critical information on Andrew Katz, including but not limited to user contributions, remains a permanent record online for anyone who is interested in Andrew Katz.

A case perfect for the Streisand effect…

Based on the data available online, including but not limited to the alleged criminal actions of Andrew Katz, here is our estimated rating on Andrew Katz. Our users can contribute their own assessments of Andrew Katz below.

Andrew Katz of Seaquake Shady Past: Exposing Copyright Takedown Scam

• 1Fake DMCAs
• 2Crimes Committed by Andrew Katz
• 3Our Investigation
• 4Potential Consequences for Andrew Katz
• 5What happens now?
• 6Our Verdict on Andrew Katz