zFire Xue (AKA Michael Prime), creator and operator of RedZone, has been remanded to the custody of the US Marshals and is off for four months in prison. I bet you thought you’d heard the last of him already. This may very well be the last you hear of him. Prime entered a guilty plea for four counts of violating his probation following a prior conviction for fraud.
For the two years after his release, he’s not allowed to work anywhere where computers or computer programming are the primary business, not allowed near any online auction site, and not allowed to participate in Second Life, or any online virtual environment or online social network – at least, not without prior written approval from his assigned Probation Officer.
His computer will be monitored for files and activity during those two years, he can’t contribute to software projects, or write code for hire, and he’s not allowed to create or operate Web-sites. Also he gets to wear one of those nifty tracking devices as a part of the “Home Confinement Program.”
There’s plenty more restrictions as a part of his supervised release, but those are the interesting ones.
There was also a US$500 fine, but it was waived due to financial incapacity. There’s no sign of any of the money he made out of RedZone customers.
Do you know what was in his probation that he violated? It seems incomplete to tell us that he is going to jail but not what specifically for.
There might have been others, but those are the four he pled guilty to, and were apparently enough. Second Life was specifically named in the conditions of supervisory release.
– For those interested in his prior conviction, there’s documentation here.
Redacted, four counts of violating his probation. A quick Google search turned up http://wa.findacase.com/research/wfrmDocViewer.aspx/xq/fac.20110524_0001206.WWA.htm/qx regarding his plea; he appears to have pled to associating with a convicted felon, failing to notify his probation officer of all computer equipment and software he owned, failing to allow his probation officer to inspect all computer equipment and software that he owned, and engaging in employment that violated the terms of his probation.
All I can say is huzzah.
At first when reading “RedZone creator goes to prison” I tought “of course he was harvesting information illegally but this seems hard punishment”.
But reading your article and the legal documents you provide, I discovered he had done worse.
In fact under such a lighting, what he has done is SL seems quite tame
The saddest part of all is that a large number of the people who so ardently defended this “product” will still say that it is a good idea when it is run by an “honest” person. They will then be an easy target for the next person who preys on their fears and prejudices, and sells them some snake oil.
Dear Mr. Zfire Xue, You had the nerve to call me a CopyBot last time we met in world, and I told you yourself that, (You Would Get Served) well guess what Zfire, you got Served…
Maybe this will teach you which side to work on, and by the time you see me again you will be kissing my ***. (;
Oh thats right Zfire Xue, your work along with that Griefer in world who attempted to get my account perma banned FAILED, You Failed!
[Name elided - Tat] Is Next, and I can’t wait until LL finally removes him, or his system for the years of harm he has brought to my account on the count of his Emerald Developers that were griefers themselves.
So have a good one Zfire, KThanxBai.
Well, the parole muppets did such an excellent job supervising him the last time that I’m sure he’ll now reform, find productive work and stay out of trouble. No, really.
[...] zFire Hue, Redzone creator goes to prison! [...]
Anonymous said “Dear Mr. Zfire Xue… etc, etc”
I am thinking since he is not allowed near a computer… he may not get your message.
“There was also a US$500 fine, but it was waived due to financial incapacity. There’s no sign of any of the money he made out of RedZone customers.”
He doesn’t learn. I guess when he gets out, it will almost be time for tax evasion charges to be laid.
[...] RedZone creator goes to prison zFire Xue (AKA Michael Prime), creator and operator of RedZone, has been remanded to the custody of the US Marshals and is off for four months in prison. I bet you thought you’d heard the last of him already. Source: dwellonit.taterunino.net [...]
His other products and servers are back in Second Life (he probably has a friend handling them for the next 24 months). this may be a new trend where you post all real life information about Second Life member’s interactions with law enforcement (that is, until someone sues you for invasion of privacy). It was never proven he did anything against the ToS in Sl. SL changed the ToS to outlaw what he was doing and he stopped doing it. He never harvested SL passwords and changed his product to comply with LL. At least the witch hunt allows blogs and forums to get paid through google ad clicks.
“and changed his product to comply with LL.”
He said he did, but the Lab said that he did not bring the product into compliance. I rather imagine that is why Linden Lab banned him for terms-of-service violations.
“He never harvested *SL* passwords” …except he harvested server passwords clearly hoping they were the same as the corresponding SL passwords.
If you believed what he claimed about the sales of RedZone, there was a lot of money going his way.
How much can we believe the claims, which were bing used to sell the product?
It is absolutely astounding that anyone would still defend the acts of this low life.
Those are some serious RL crimes he committed and he’s lucky he is only going away for a few years. Had he commit fraud against one of you and you lost $$, you’d be singing a different tune.
Happy to see one less good for nothing piece of sh*t scam artist on the grid & in public.
[...] headlined by Tateru Nino, the RedZone farrago both returns and gains a measure of [...]
badyblue mentioned that his products and servers are back. Can someone post links to this effect?
It was not a witch-hunt/mob mentality that got him banned. Or do you say the same thing about Quickware’s creator being banned and his product pulled?
zFire did violate the TOS and yes Linden Lab made changes to the CS to clarify what they mean by privacy. There is such a thing as the letter of the law, then there is spirit of the law. You cannot account for every vile thing someone may cook up. You try to cover it with the spirit of the law. Then someone comes along who pushes the envelope so specific clarifications must be made. If people cannot morally police themselves then they need “big brother” to step in and spell it out for them. It happens in RL, no big surprise it is needed in SL.
What amazes me is that some people still hold on to the belief that they are right and that violating MY privacy is justified. I guess the alternative is to admit they were duped by zfire and are now being duped by the next product to come along and make outlandish claims of protecting against copybotters.
[...] Tateru Nino has managed to uncover an addendum to the court proceedings surrounding his violations of his court supervision. Since she headlined this a month ago, I have been searching for the document she refers to but I presume she has some access to materials that are not in the public domain as I cannot find it. I this include her commentary asis: zFire Xue (AKA Michael Prime), creator and operator of RedZone, has been remanded to the custody of the US Marshals and is off for four months in prison. I bet you thought you’d heard the last of him already. This may very well be the last you hear of him. Prime entered a guilty plea for four counts of violating his probation following a prior conviction for fraud. [...]
[...] spyware to continue being sold, despite the well-documented RedZone scandal, which ended in the four-month prison sentence of Michael Stefan Prime, the person behind the “zFire Xue” [...]
RedZone owner wasn’t jailed because of the RedZone incident. Cut it out.
That is correct – it wasn’t RedZone specifically, but his use of Second Life at all which violated the terms of his parole.