Monster never responded to the lawsuit, and a California court issued a default judgment.
A California man has been awarded a $486,432 judgment against Epik founder Rob Monster and Epik Inc. over a stolen domain name.
Robert M. Lee registered the domain name rle.com in 1995. In a lawsuit he filed in 2019, he alleged that the domain was stolen from his Network Solutions account in 2016. The domain was subsequently transferred to GoDaddy and then to Epik.
According to the suit (see the first amended complaint, pdf), Lee asked GoDaddy to return the domain, but it refused. After the domain was transferred to Epik, Lee said he contacted the registrar and spoke with its then-CEO, Rob Monster, in December 2019.
In a declaration (pdf) filed with the court, Lee summarized the call, as quoted here:
- I explained to ROB MONSTER in my phone call of December 5, 2019 that the domain rle.com was taken by JOHN DOE who was impersonating me and I then demanded that the domain name be returned to my custody and control.
- ROB MONSTER admitted to me during this phone call that he and EPIK INC. had the ability to return the domain rle.com to my custody.
- During this conversation ROB MONSTER did not ask me for any kind of additional proof to verify that the domain was stolen, or that I was the true Robert Lee. For example, he did not ask me for a driver’s license (like GoDaddy did) to verify my identity. Notably, he also did not ask me to establish a chain of title back to Network Solutions.
- In addition, at no point did ROB MONSTER indicate that he needed to contact JOHN DOE to try and sort out who the true “Robert Lee” and owner was.
- Instead, ROB MONSTER appeared to believe me that the domain was stolen.
- However, ROB MONSTER told me that he would only return the domain to my control under certain conditions.
- During the conversation I had mentioned I was a web designer and owned other valuable domain names. ROB MONSTER immediately expressed an interest in hosting them.
- ROB MONSTER told me that rle.com would only be returned to my control if I transferred all my other domains to EPIK INC.
- ROB MONSTER indicated I would not be charged any money for the return of rle.com, and he did not mention any possible problems with taking the domain name from JOHN DOE when he presented this proposed agreement.
- I understood from ROB MONSTER that if I refused to transfer all my other web domains to EPIK INC. that rle.com would not be returned to me under any circumstances.
- During my conversation with ROB MONSTER he represented that he alone was making the decision whether to return my domain name to me, he at no point referred to any sort of external policy or legal requirement that dictated a procedure for returning the domain name to me.
- At no point did I consent for EPIK INC. or ROB MONSTER to host or have control over my domain name rle.com. In fact, I protested their continual control of the domain, and I made this protest known to EPIK INC. and ROB MONSTER on December 11, 2019 during our call.
- I refused ROB MONSTER’s offer, and the domain has remained with EPIK INC and ROB MONSTER to this day.
There’s no public record of Monster’s side of the story because neither he nor Epik Inc responded to the lawsuit.
(GoDaddy did respond, at first trying to get the company dismissed from the suit. Eventually, Lee and GoDaddy entered mediation and were working on a settlement, although it doesn’t appear that the settlement has come to fruition yet.)
The court issued a default judgment against Monster and Epik Inc on May 9, 2023. It came to light now because the judgment was transferred to King County, where Monster lives, and Lee filed an application for a writ of garnishment.
There are two wrinkles in this case.
First, Epik (the domain registrar) is now owned by a different company, Epik LLC. The judgment is against Epik Inc and Monster himself.
Second, it appears the domain was sold to domain investor Brent Oxley in mid-to-late 2022.
John says
If true, that guy is a disgusting cretin (initials R.M.).
James says
What happens to the current registrant? Do they get to keep it, or must it be returned to the rightful owner?
Mike says
I guess if it is defined as “stolen” then he should be able to force its return ?
Mike says
I guess the first thing I would be going for would be a Court Order (if required) to find out who Brent Oxley bought the domain from and what price paid.
C.H. says
Mike,
Shortly after Rob received notice the domain was stolen, Epik.com had moved the domain from the rlee@representative.com account to the epikescrow account on 39 December 2019.
On September 20th, 2022, Epik sent an email out attempting to sell a lot of domains. RLE.com was included in that email.
Approx one month later, DomainTools historical WHOIS has a 22 October 2022 entry date, that shows RLE.com at NameCheap.com with a whois update of 29 September 2022.
23 October 2022 archive.org shows RLE.com forwarding to oxley.com.
Mind you, Brian Royce was appointed CEO in September of 2022. So it appears that Epik, under Brian Royces watch, sold RLE.com to Brent Oxley.
However, domains can change hands frequently, so it could have sold from (a) epik to (b) unknown before selling to (c) Brent Oxley.
Sparky says
Do you have that email?
C.H. says
If you’re asking about the email that Epik sent attempting to sell RLE.com, all the domains mentioned in the email were mentioned in a namePros post by bMugford:
https://www.namepros.com/threads/the-fund-cant-be-withdrawal-from-epik-com-via-masterbucks-wallet.1284050/page-166#post-8823514
C.H. says
Could the John Doe who is accused of stealing the domain in 2016 be connected to World Media Group, aka World.com?
In 2016 while at NetSol, the WHOIS registrant email changed from bob@rle.com to rlee@representative.com.
Representative.com appears to be owned by World.com. Unless World.com offers email addresses to outside entities, it would appear World.com may be connected to this.
There have been other reported allegations of World.com connections involved in NetSol domain hijacking.
https://www.namepros.com/threads/the-strange-case-of-world-com-and-network-solutions-hijacked-domains.1070992/#post-9152414
C.H. says
Correction: World Media Group does offer email addresses to outside entity.
So it would appear the alleged thief used a service to register rLee@Representative.com. If the rightful owner of RLE.com wishes to attempt to uncover the alleged thief’s identity, they could probably include World Media Group or whomever the email host was to subpoena more information.
John D. says
Epik & Rob Monster are terrible.
At least there is a $482K judgement in favor of the true rle.com owner.
Was RLE.com sold directly to Oxley by RM & Epik or another party?
I would aim to find out legally.
Who knows what type of organized piracy happens behind the scenes?
Another reason I like GDPR Whois privacy.
Brent Oxley says
Rob Monster is indeed a thief and stole $121,800 from me! I purchased a domain name that he failed to deliver, and when I asked for the cash back I was informed the money was already used to cover other debts.
I have an NDA in place as part of the settlement, so unfortunately, I am limited in the details that I can provide.
I will say that I agreed to trade 3 domains, including rle.com, and some cash to settle the $121,800 that Rob stole from me.
This is the first I heard anything about rle.com’s history, and I never would have accepted it as partial payment had I known.
Hopefully, the law catches up with Rob one of these days and he serves time in prison!
Andrew Allemann says
So looking at the timeline, that means that Rob offered RLE.com as compensation after he was sued and was told it was stolen?
Perfectname.com Sales says
Hard for the original thief to cry foul.
C.H. says
Timeline:
— December 11th, 2019: RLE.com owner has a phone call with Rob Monster informing him the domain was stolen.
— December 29, 2019: Audit logs from #epikFail shows Rob Monster pushed this domain out of rLee@representative.com account and into epikescrow account. rLee@representative.com didn’t log back into epik until 15 November 2020.
— September 1st, 2022: Brian Royce appointed CEO
— September 22nd, 2022: Epik sent an email with a list of domains it was trying to sell, RLE.com included.
— September 29th, 2022: WHOIS updates from Epik to Namecheap
(I replied with a similar response that may have been caught by spam.)
kd says
If I were you and found out a part of that settlement was a stolen domain / asset that Rob THEN stole from the thief himself – I would argue your NDA and the entire contract is void. You should consult an attorney, but if he violated the law and transferred KNOWN stolen goods to you as a part of a settlement, then he fleeced you too. I can’t believe this! (Well, actually I can.)
John Berryhill says
…and good luck selling RLE.com to any responsible organization willing to pay value for it, now that it is publicly known to have been stolen and converted by Epik.
Who is going to buy it?
John Berryhill says
“I have an NDA in place as part of the settlement, so unfortunately, I am limited in the details that I can provide.”
Having provided you with stolen goods to satisfy a debt, one might venture to guess that a number of provisions of the agreement have already been breached and/or that the agreement itself was fraudulent.
John says
Brent I hope you will read my comment yesterday at the link here, but also the clarification comment I just added under it. The latter does not appear yet because it has to be moderated first.
PS: original HostGator was the bomb. Used it for years till a while after you left and it went South into the abyss.
https://domainnamewire.com/2024/04/11/man-gets-486k-judgment-against-rob-monster-and-epik-inc-over-stolen-domain/#comment-2279925
C.H. says
Were the other domains involved in the NDA deal: Niv.com and Sniff.com?
Steve says
Brings back memories of the convoluted Sex .com saga.
Billy says
Rob Monster needs to join OJ Simpson in hell soon
John says
If this is all true, and it appears probably or sufficiently so, I hereby publicly apologize and recant all the times I supported Epik and RM in domain blogs and forums over the years.
I’ve never done this till here and now.
This is the last straw if this is substantially or wholly true.
Here’s the part some of you won’t like:
Christianity is still true (i.e. the true kind), the Bible is still true and the word of God, and so forth.
It’s just a fact of life in this passing world which make no mistake has a date with termination that this kind of thing happens.
It even happened to my father in business back in the 80’s. Swindled by someone who was supposedly a Christian, etc. My father had even described the guy’s wife as “a real Hosanna.” Took a nasty chunk of change from my Dad, who was struggling to get something going, while the takers were a million times better off.
The bottom line is that despite everything you’ve ever seen or witnessed or even experienced yourself, no matter what, it doesn’t mean and can never mean what one would understandably be inclined or tempted to infer that it means about things like Christianity, the Bible, life, the world, and everything.
But there may be no point in me even saying this, because it makes no difference with regard to one’s fate.
PS: and please don’t think that I think I’m any good example either, I’m not.
But God is true and good no matter what any of His real or purported people do in this life. Mistakes are mistakes, people still make them, but willful evil is of course also far worse than just a mistake. God knows what this matter consists of.
John says
I realized later I should backtrack and clarify some of this.
The preamble: some of us are what is called “conservatives,” some “liberals,” and some just independent truth tellers and truth seekers who don’t fit into any such categories and even reject them. But people have their biases and entrenches beliefs, so for example it would normally be assumed I’m a “conservative” with what I said above about what some would call “religion.”
Extending that further including into the pejorative zone, some of us can even rightly and accurately be called “libtards,” but while “libtard” and what it signifies is real, the opposite is also true, i.e. “conservatards” and “conservatard.” Like how “TDS” is most definitely real, but reverse or pro-TDS is also real.
(Preamble still in progress.) Some of the famous people in this thread are actually “libtards,” no matter how otherwise brilliant and accomplished. For bonus points, by the way, anyone remember how Joseph Peterson would sometimes drolly admit he fell into the “libtard” category himself? Those were the days.
Despite what I wrote above about “religion,” and despite what I’m about to write after this little preamble, I am no “conservative.” My views and positions are diverse and focused on truth, despite that without question many could simply cry “conservative” and on the so-called right many would even accuse of the opposite for some things (and have).
So regarding what I said above about apologizing and recanting about Rob and Epik:
To be clear, what Epik was doing for free speech and against the monolithic crooked war on free speech – about which some of the “libtards” in this thread have definitely been duped in my observation over the years – was important and good. In fact, that is actually one of the biggest reasons to be upset with what Rob did to destroy that, while “libtards” are simply happy it was destroyed.
On a personal level, and pure speculation, it’s hard to know exactly, and God certainly knows, but I would just mention that I got the impression that Rob thought of himself as some kind of “junior Elon Musk.” So if things weren’t happening fast and big enough, the temptation to mix escrow funds was just really great, and he may have assumed it would all be okay. Just a hunch, fwiw. Also, I could say a lot more about what often happens in “the church,” i.e. the universal population of those who either really are God’s people (yes, there really is a “God’s people”) or only supposedly are and appear to be (God goes into that in the Bible too).
I could say more, but perhaps you get the idea well enough, and I need to attend to other things.
In closing, the tragedy was not just the victims of Epik/Rob, but the loss of Epik and what it did and represented itself, no matter how much anyone hated any of its clients. In fact, don’t make assumptions about me still. For example, I follow that main Gab guy in X every day and see what he posts. I actually don’t like him and think he has some issues. But what Rob and Epik did in his case and Gab’s case was the right thing, and did have to be done regardless. “Tards” no matter how otherwise brilliant, accomplished and full of themselves and their friends and elite acquaintances may be clueless about that and full of bias, hate and duped by propaganda, but it’s the truth, and the only thing truly in everyone’s interests as well, whether you like someone or not.
Nic says
The new owner, I expect (hope), is a “bona fide purchaser for value without notice”. Interesting to see where this lands if he has that tested.
JH says
Well, look who’s talking about having a bless year, the Monster complacence;
Brian RoyceBrian Royce
Entrepreneur, Technologist, Problem Solver, Entrepreneur, Technologist, Problem Solver, “CROOK”
53m • 53m •
This is turning out to be a great year! We are very blessed, and I am so happy to announce that my daughter was just accepted to one of the most elite schools in Houston! #5 in Best Catholic High Schools in Texas #blessed
JH says
*blessed
*accomplice
JH says
Proof Monster funneled domains away from my account as well and Im sure from countless other accounts under the guise of the holy CROOKed spirit….
brent oxley says
I’ve started a new hosting company called Create. I’d love to have you as a customer again!
John says
Ha, I don’t normally check domain blogs on a Sunday evening, but I did now! I will definitely look into that with great interest. Original HG was so good I was ready to stay for life. I’m using multiple hosting plans, no desire to go DIY now or any time soon, and can add more even if I keep others. One of the biggest and best things right now would be the kind of AI site and content creation and editing features some of the hosting companies have begun adding. Even if you don’t do that yet. I don’t have that yet either despite excellent non-AI, so that’s much on my radar right now. Sooner, later, I definitely still will check that out for sure.
Sparky says
Yes that’s it. Thank you.
Caseys says
The court documents show that Rob Monster was served with this lawsuit on July 6, 2021. By the time he transferred this domain to you, he knew the domain was subject to litigation and he knew it was stolen.