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"Buffalo Spammer" Gets 3.5 to 7 Years
jfruhlinger writes "Howard Carmak, aka the 'Buffalo spammer,' has been sentenced to jail time for his spamming activities. Interestingly, the conviction was not for spamming per se, but rather stealing someone's identity, which he then used to launch his spam messages."
From the article:
The jail sentence is the maximum allowed under the law, due to Carmack's prior felony conviction for fraud in a federal case involving fake money orders, McCarthy said.
7 years is the maximum for identity theft? That actually seems a little light. I would think they'd lock him away for 15-20 for something like that. Theft + potentially ruining someone else's credit and/or reputation.
A love beyond compare...
It serves him right for stealing identities. I am still in counseling for getting that email from my grandma telling me to enlarge my penis.
Evolution or ID?
And from another article ...
But your honor, I was trying to run an HONEST business of stealing peopele's time and identitiy! Now I'll have to go back to mail fraud!
I hope he enjoys his term in state pound-me-up-the-ass prison. This is the only thing that will curtail the (domestic) spam problem. Harsh, painful prison sentences.
How does the Slashdot Effect happen given that no slashdotters ever RTFA?
He'll surely need a large amount of cigarettes and contraband as dowry for his marriage to Big Bubba.
People say I'm crazy, I got diamonds on the soles of my shoes...
He also announced he planned to spam his appeal to every court in the country.
The old cop trick, cant get em for what the biggest problem is, get them for what you can.
Should be this way more often, arrest spammers for using machines they have no proper access to, not for just for spamming.
Everybody, sing along, loud enough so that Howard can hear you all the way over in the Erie County Holding Center!
Nah nah... nah nah nah nah... hey hey hey... good-BYE!
When I read that Howard Carmack told Earthlink, "Nothing is in my name, so you'll never catch me," all I could think was, you arrogant, silly man. These are government agents and corporate attorneys that you're up against. You're an overweight criminal in his mid-30s who lives in a shack in Buffalo. I think they're gonna catch you, and right quick.
Sure enough, they did. In addition to his prison time, Carmack has a multi-million-dollar judgment against him from Earthlink for his misuse of their network.
Have fun in prison, Howard!
You are in error. No-one is screaming. Thank you for your cooperation.
..."enlarge your ... today", 'cause he's not gonna like it.
...of an old case I read about in Cliff Stoll's The Cuckoo's Egg.
A cracker was convicted in Canada in the 80s of "stealing electricity" instead of breaking into a computer.
tasks(723) drafts(105) languages(484) examples(29106)
"The jail sentence is the maximum allowed under the law, due to Carmack's prior felony conviction for fraud in a federal case involving fake money orders, McCarthy said."
Hopefully this implies that the government is realizing that most spammers are already criminals, email is just a new venue to commit the fraud.
The sentence is unfortunately light, but the precedent is nice to see.
--- Bill
Capone went to prison (Alcatraz) on tax evasion. I'd love to see the IRS audit all spammers they can get ahold of. It might drive them offshore, but then we might have a chance at the ISP level to blacklist IP ranges for SMTP traffic.
SPF is a good idea, I get tired of that checklist that says why your idea won't work. It's pedantic and discourages good ideas from being discussed.
If SPAM is allowed to thrive offshore, I see a time when service providers like AT&T are asked to track SMTP and provide governments the figures for - you guessed it - tariffs.
Here's hoping that his cellmate took a steady supply of penis enlargement pills and herbal viagra.
Shouldn't they have executed him like they do virus writers?
LongTail SSH Brute Force analysis tool is here!
These days, it's a truth that most spammers have to break other laws to try to get their spam out. It's not like the old days of open relays and a trusting email network. Now, we have worm exploits, stolen identities, account phishing, hacked boxes...the list goes on and on.
We can pat ourselves on the back here, I think. Now that we're as a community becoming aware of the spam problem and doing something about it (like closing down open relays and blocking those who don't), spammers now have to break other laws to get their crap through.
And that makes them targets for prosecution. So, let's all give ourselves a round of applause here. If you closed an open relay, or wiped out a worm, you contributed to this!
Let's all keep up the good work.
Weaselmancer
Weaselmancer
rediculous.
Burn the jerk.
But I have mixed feelings on this. If it was 3.5-7 for spamming, I would certainly say that is appropriate, but for identity theft? This is something that RUINS peoples lives. In a lot of cases, the vitims propogate their anguish to loved ones etc... and some even go as far as committing suicide. Actually, it stinks of the same horror as rape... you come out the other side ruined and broken... and 7 years isnt sufficient.
I personally believe we need to get things back in perspective. If you destroy someones life, whether physically, or otherwise, you should lose yours. You arent fit for our society. BURN.
"When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back!" -- Cave Johnson
It's a good thing for this guy that sentencing for spam doesn't work like that: he supposedly sent 800 million emails using the two identities he stole.
Then again, it wasn't a spam law under which he was convicted and sentenced. But put a few spammers away for 800 million years, and it might help in the neverending fight.
/"You get out of jail about when the Sun has expanded to the size of Mars' orbit."
I am glad this guy was caught and convicted, and I'm glad it wasn't for spamming. It always amazes me how people want new laws targetting spam, but most of what the worst spammers do is already against the law and they can be targetted for that. Advertising fraudulent products is against the law. Pyramid schemes are against the law. Hacking someone's system and sending email from there is illegal. I have no problem with spam that doesn't the law in the sending. If you have a legitmate email account and send email from it, and don't make false claims, then you are using the email system as intended.
If you want to go after spammers, there are plenty you can go after suing existing laws. We don't need new laws specifically for spam anymore than we need new laws specifically for music sharers. Use the existing laws.
"Information wants to be expensive" - Stewart Brand, the same guy who said "Information wants to be free"
It certainly would appear that identity theft is perhaps the best way to prosecute these spammers. If they are not using their own address, then they are stealing the use of someone elses. If they can successfully prosecute a series of these cases, spammers may be forced to use their real addresses. At least the ethical ones... hahahahah.. sorry
For what its worth, MD just increased the penalties for spammers.
jr
Often here we see that new technology doesn't necessarily require new laws. Arresting and charging a spammer using someone else's identity to avoid being caught and held responsible is a good way to round these people up. It avoids the free speech issues completely.
$#!^ happens, but why does it always have to happen to me???
Here's the original Earthlink case.
Anytime, anywhere, when a spammer gets jail time, a death sentence, raped, shot, stabbed, beaten, pursued by goblins, eaten by robot men or robot dogs, burned, molested by snakes, bitten by wolves, dipped in acid, exsanguinated, trampled by cattle, or lost at sea...
How he got caught.
I would think he should get longer... I mean.. if for nothing else, just for principle!
Carmak, in his jail cell for the first night of his long sentence, with "Tyree," or "Bubba," or whoever; specifics are not important, just that the individual is large, mean, and notoriously maladjusted. It is now lights-out, and quiet falls over the prison.
As Carmak cowers under the covers of the lower bunk...
"I bet you don't want ME to have a bigger penis now, do you, boy?"
For your security, this post has been encrypted with ROT-13, twice.
Seems he also had prior felony for fake money orders.
"The jail sentence is the maximum allowed under the law, due to Carmack's prior felony conviction for fraud in a federal case involving fake money orders, McCarthy said."
"If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts." -Albert Einstein
Karma? There's a serial modder out there.
cool beans either way, so long as this guy can't continue his evil ways. capone was thrown in jail for taxes, but it kept him from mafia'ing.
I wish that I was a catfish.
That's because as of yet there are no laws against sending email. One person's spam is another's free speach.
"Who are in control, they are not in control of anything - they don't even control themselves!" - Glen Beck
Meanwhile in Jail, inmates have added him to their "My new Bitch" list. Carmak has complained repeatedly that their unsubscribe feature is both inhumane and doesn't work, which has led to arthritis in his right hand.
excessive.
Yas I read the article. He has a prior felonies, and he stole 2 people's identity.
from the article, it seems like he used the identites to send spam. Not exactly devastating. If he had used thoose ID's to charge credit cards, buy a car, etc.. then a couple of years in prison would be adequate.
Considering how full our prisons are, and how tight state budgets are, perhaps there could be better solutions? Community service springs to mind.
He should also be responsible for undoing harm to the people whose identities he stole. We all know what a pain it is to call the credit card companies, and find out what we need to do to prove it wasn't us and get any marks removed from are credit history.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
"The Register of Known Spam Operations (ROKSO) database collates information and evidence on known hard-line spam operations that have been terminated by a minimum of 3 consecutive Service Providers for serious spam offenses.
200 Known Spam Operations responsible for 90% of your spam.
90% of spam received by Internet users in North America and Europe can be traced via redirects, hosting locations of web sites, domains and aliases, to a hard-core group of around 200 known spam operations, almost all of whom are listed in the ROKSO database. These spam operations consist of an estimated 500-600 professional spammers loosely grouped into gangs ("spam gangs"), the vast majority of whom are operating illegally, and who move from network to network seeking out Internet Service Providers ("ISPs") known for lax enforcing of anti-spam policies."
Losers choose to abuse the use of "loose".
...like getting the mob with tax fraud, right?
including charges that he stole the identity of two Buffalo-area residents, which he then used to send out more than 800 million spam messages
Who would've thought there were two Buffalo-area residents with the names "Big R. Schlong" and "Haute Yung Bebes"
This announcement does my heart good. Howard Carmak got his due for his actions though not directly just like Al Capone received a sentence for U.S. tax evasion instead of murder, racketeering etc.
When a person is a scum bag in one area this trait seems to wash over into other facets of their lives.
Harpo Tunnel Syndrome--my wrist feels funny.
Can we please execute him too?
In all seriousness, we need to have some sort of crackdown on spam. The levels of pure crap are increasing faster than even a combination of SpamAssassin and Thunderbird's Bayesian filtering can catch up with.
Throwing slimebags like Carmak and Alan Ralsky in jail for a few years might help reduce the spam levels. While the servers may be in China, the ones running these large spam operations are right here in the US. It won't stop spam, but it will at least reduce the flow.
Is he serving time in the Heisenberg Uncertainty Corrections Center?
If you post it, they will read.
Does it mean that if I spam under my real name I am free to do it?
This is totally insecure, but very convenient.
I bet those murderers and thugs in jail will love this guy...
spammer guy: b-b-but Im a marketer!
thug #1: shuddup you in my world tubby!
thug #2: whoo! fresh meat!
While the crime is not entirely related to spamming, it shows that local law enforcement is getting "clever" with its prosecution, in the same way federal authorities, when unable to get felony convictions like murder against organized crime bosses turned to tax evasion and fraud.
Interesting.
...his cellmates introduce the "Buffalo Spammer" to the "Cleveland Steamer".
So here's the question. I RTFA, and there are no details on the "identity theft" thing. Does 0wn1ng someone's underdefended box count as "identity theft", and if so, is that what they got this guy for?
And - more to the point - if not, could the law be construed that way? In other words, can we prosecute spammers for impersonating customers of fooISP by using their zombied boxes to spam?
Just a thought.
Corruptissima re publica plurimae leges.
Commercial speech should absolutely be as protected as other speech.
What people tend to do, and Americans in particular, is to confuse "freedom of speech" with "guaranteed right to an audience". Preferably on somebody else's bill.
And THAT particular bird is not going to fly.
You have the right to say whatever you want to say (well, almost, nowadays). You do not have the right to force me to listen to any of it. You do not have the right to force somebody else to carry your message.
Didn't we just go through this? All this macho GW Bush "Bring it on" wannabe talk isn't going to do anything but get people killed.
If the death penalty applies to spam, and someone might get caught for spamming, then they may as well just go kill someone while they are at it. Maybe kill the witnesses. It can't increase the severity of the penalty, so why not?
Part of justice is appropriate punishments. Walking with a swagger and carrying a noose might impress people who failed to graduate high school, but it doesn't make us any safer, or freer.
Fascism trolls keeping me up every night. When I starts a preachin', he HITS ME WITH HIS REICH!
A nerdy overweight white guy in his thirties going to the can? He should tatoo tits on his back now and get it over with.
-B
They just need to be there. SPAM is so popular because, until now, it was a more or less no risk bussiness both finincally and legally. It cost very little to get in to and you weren't going to get in trouble for what you were doing. To lessen the amout of spammers, we just need to make it unattractive. Doesn't mean we need to lock them up for life (appealing though that may sound), just a reasonable prison sentence combine with seizing all their ill gotten gains.
Most spammers will then quit. These aren't hardened, fear nothing, criminals we are talking about, they are sleazy bussiness men that see this as an easy, low risk way to make a buck. Show them it's not low risk, most of them will knock it off.
There will still be some, of course, there is always somebody stupid enough to try something, but I think it can be kept to a minimum, in the US at least (which is where the majority of it starts anyhow).
Why, yes.
People say I'm crazy, I got diamonds on the soles of my shoes...
Think of it as a deterrent. "Not only are murder, theft, and rape wrong, but if you're caught, you might have to share a cell with a spammer!"
how to invest, a novice's guide
>7 years is the maximum for identity theft? That actually seems a little light.
How about seven years and the victims get to pick his cellmate?Some mornings it's hardly worth chewing through the restraints to get out of bed.
...the actual manufacturers of bogus penis enlargement pills, quasi-legal drug sales of Viagra, and other such snake oil companies. The actual spamming agencies are half the problem - the other half are the scumbags who hire them and turn a blind eye to their practices.
"...Well, there's egg and bacon; egg sausage and bacon; egg and spam; egg bacon and spam; egg bacon sausage and spam..."
Just commit massive credit card fraud! Your cellmate will do the rest. :)
+5:offtopic,but anti-American
His only human contact should be via electronic messages with each message sent to him being among 10,000 unfiltered spam messages. Let him waste his life sorting through messages just as he's done to so many others.
Violent prison rape is *funny*?
>
> Hmmm.
"Hmmm", indeed.
How the fuck would a prosecutor find a jury that would convict?
You shouldn't be applauding prison rape. I don't care what a person did, they don't deserve to be ass raped till they bleed, or become Bubba's for protection.
In particular spam is annoying but does getting ass raped really fit the crime? Put yourself in their shoes, your a small geeky guy faced with 5 to 7 and your choice is hook up with someone and get it up the ass by one person, or not and the whole prison will gang-rape you. Phsycologically, you've lost all control in your life and you begin to despair and lose hope. If you're lucky your suicide attempt succeeds, because if the prison guards suspect that you attempted suicide to get away from the general population, they will throw you back to wolves, where you can die a slow painfull, tortured death from the nightly ass-poundings you receive.
That's not even funny.
It's a serious issue.
To learn more:
http://www.spr.org
cat sig >
It's a crime because the government defines it as a crime. Examples include drug possession and sodomy.
Don't blame me; I'm never given mod points.
he's a person with irreplaceable years of life
It is nice to meet a compassionate individual here on slashdot but keep in mind how many aggregate "irreplaceable years of life" this scumbag cost others in filling up people's inbox with junk or having to spend time setting up filters, etc. !
Victimless crime.. explain to me how something can be a victimless crime, or, if some action really is victimless, why it's a crime.
Let's say two gay men have anal sex. Where's the victim? Yet, untill recently, that was illegal in Texas. Many states have had anti-masterbation laws in the past as well. Where's the victim there?
People just like screwing up other people's lives for the hell of it.
autopr0n is like, down and stuff.
Now he can get some hands-on experience helping men enlarge their penises.
Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
...for tools-of-trade, fuel bought for the getaway car, things like that.
Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing