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First Four People Charged Under CAN-SPAM Act

Posted by michael on from the world's-smallest-violin dept.

friedo writes "Four people in Detroit have been charged with emailing fraudulent sales pitches under the new federal CAN-SPAM Law. 'They were accused of disguising their identities in hundreds of thousands of sales pitches and delivering e-mails by bouncing messages through unprotected relay computers on the Internet.'"

6 of 372 comments (clear)

  1. Good. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Sadly, I doubt this will make any difference - they'll just forge more headers.

    1. Re:Good. by Shakrai · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The really sad part is that it took 10,000 complaints, before anything was done about the fraud.

      As weak as this law is that is still a little unfair. Do you think the Feds can instantly go and toss someone in jail based on a few complaints? They need to investigate it themselves before they can do anything. That takes time. For all you know the investigation itself started after they received the first complaint about these morons.

      I don't think you want a society where they instantly throw you in jail based on a few complaints submitted over the Internet.

      --
      I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
      We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
  2. Yee Haw by 2names · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Hopefully, this will lead to cleaner net'vironment.

    Aw, who am I kidding. Prosecuting people has never been a deterent to the crime.

    --
    "I'm just here to regulate funkiness."
  3. Four charged... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Now we just need four convicted.

  4. Re:Four little fish.... by idesofmarch · · Score: 5, Insightful
    This is the first prosecution, and by the nature of it being first, there are no others, so it seems like an isolated effort. Are you saying there should never be a first? Under that logic, there is never any point in doing anything.

    I am particularly pleased the government is charging the guy for unauthorized relay. As shocked as he may be at the visit from authorities, I am sure his victims were equally shocked when they discovered that hundreds of thousands of emails were being relayed through their servers.

  5. Re:maximum penalty? by dsanfte · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Seriously, save jail for violent offenders. There's not enough room as it is. Spammers may be annoying, but they won't mug you on the street and rape your kids.

    --
    occultae nullus est respectus musicae - originally a Greek proverb