Jerry Orbach, actor, star of NBC hit series "Law & Order", and honorary co-founder of IDCo, is the reason the technology was built in the first place.  In fact in its original version PrivacyProBot^® was called PrivacyOrBot!  When Jerry was the victim of identity theft he called on his friend and our VP of Technology, Justin Page, who had been a professional in the field for many years.  Together they decided that something had to be done to protect the public against privacy invasions and identity theft.  It was than the unique technology was developed and the company was first formed.  Below are some news accounts of Jerry’s story.

NEW YORK - February 6, 2000 – Through his work in films like "Prince of the City" and "Crimes and Misdemeanors," and of course on TV's "Law and Order," Jerry Orbach has earned a reputation as the quintessential no-nonsense New Yorker.  Mr. Orbach has also reached the status of popular celebrity, receiving a Tony award and a 1997 Crystal Apple Award from the Mayor's office of Film, Television and Broadcasting.

But when Cybersquatters stole Jerry Orbach's name, they picked the wrong guy.  The star of TV’s hit series "Law and Order" is striking back, turning to his friend— native New Yorker, technologist, and internet privacy advocate Justin Page [Identity Cops Chief Technologist]— to take back JERRYORBACH.COM.  This will be the first time a celebrity's domain fight will be fought using newly established administrative procedures, rather than in the courts.

Page, whose complaint for Mr. Orbach as attorney-in-fact, has been accepted for filing on Friday and issued complaint number FA0093551 with the National Arbitration Forum (a provider for the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers - ICANN).  Prior to its filing, Page stated, "I think people are clearly tired of slackers trying to extort five, six, or seven-figure settlements."

Page likens Cybersquatters to "the carjackers of the Information Superhighway. They buy the 'domain' or 'dot-com' names of celebrities and well-known corporations and organizations for a nominal sum, hoping that the victim will pay hefty ransoms.  Famous people and successful companies should not work for years building up their reputations and good will, only to have it encroached upon by a stick-up artist, armed with a mouse and seventy bucks."

Page has now formed an association of technologists, attorneys, and celebrities, called E-Privex.Com [now Identity Cops].  Describing their approach to assisting his clients take back their names, Page states "we have confidence that the new ICANN processes will help people resolve these matters quickly and inexpensively."

Orbach isn't the first celebrity to be dot-commed, but if Page has his way, his client may be one of the last.

Page has been a technologist for major New York companies for the past thirteen years.  As a young man, former President Reagan named Page, educated in New York City's public school system, a United States Presidential Scholar in 1985.  He attended New York's High School for the Performing Arts with Jerry Orbach's son, Chris Orbach, who has appeared on "Law & Order's Special Victim's Unit," is a musician, and is developing his own site at www.chrisorbach.com.  Other notable graduates of this high school include Jennifer Aniston. 

Interestingly, the same Respondent as in Mr. Orbach's case had allegedly wrongfully taken Ms. Aniston's name, as well as the names of several hundred other celebrities.  This Respondent reached an out-of-court settlement with entertainer John Tesh recently by simply relinquishing the domain name JohnTesh.Com.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Actor Jerry Orbach is a court regular as Detective Lennie Briscoe in NBC's television drama “Law & Order,” but Monday the action was real when he sued online auctioneer eBay Inc. for displaying his Social Security number on the Internet.

The suit, filed in Manhattan federal court, alleges that eBay began posting the confidential information on its Web site last Wednesday when it advertised the sale of two of Orbach's contracts from 1958.

The suit alleges that eBay said it was selling the contracts on behalf of The History Store, a dealer of used books, documents and autographic materials. The History Store is also named as a defendant.

The the 64-year-old actor alleges that the defendants did not get his permission to use his name and Social Security Number.  By disseminating the information over the Internet, Orbach has allegedly been exposed to "identity theft,'' credit card fraud and his credit-worthiness could be affected, the suit said. The suit says the amount of damage Orbach has suffered has not yet been determined.

This case was almost immediately settled and the documents returned to Mr. Orbach.