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Man Arrested, Accused of Threatening Google

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From Bloomberg News

Federal authorities said they had arrested a Ventura County man who threatened to “destroy” Google Inc. with a software program that faked traffic on Internet ads unless he was paid $100,000.

The U.S. attorney’s office in San Francisco said Michael Anthony Bradley, 32, of Oak View told Mountain View, Calif.-based Google that he had created a program that automates fraudulent traffic to cost-per-click ads Google places on websites. The clicks caused Google to make payments to websites Bradley set up, according to a criminal complaint.

Bradley faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. He was released on $50,000 bail, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

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From Bloomberg News

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