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Spammer settles with MS and Texas

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the whack-a-mole dept.

RedOregon writes "One of the world's most notorious spammers has settled lawsuits with the state [of Texas] and Microsoft Corp. that cost him at least $1 million, took away most of his assets and forced him to stop sending the e-mails."

8 of 36 comments (clear)

  1. We still lose... by crazyjeremy · · Score: 3, Insightful

    So wait a second... Since he settled for $1 million dollars and in his career he actually made more than $1 million, how is this fair? We still all lose, right? If he's made enough money to buy the house and the BMW, what's a million dollar fine but a slap on the wrist? Why doesn't this punk go to jail?

    --
    Funnypics
    1. Re:We still lose... by Eric+Damron · · Score: 2, Informative

      Umm.... because people don't go to jail for losing a civil case?

      --
      The race isn't always to the swift... but that's the way to bet!
    2. Re:We still lose... by Spy+der+Mann · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Which is why the current spam laws must be changed.

      Sending spam without giving users the chance to opt-out would still be applied.
      Sending spam through open proxies or machines without the explicit written authorization of their legal owners should be illegal, with jail penalty.

    3. Re:We still lose... by Phroggy · · Score: 2, Interesting

      And who will enforce this laws in, say, China?

      The Chinese government can deal with Chinese spammers however they want. This guy's in the US, and subject to US law. Let's work on cleaning up the spam problem in our own country, before we worry about foreign spammers, ok?

      --
      $x='S24;r)>63/* h@<5+oZ)32"5cz';$me='phroggy'x$];
      $x=~y+ -xz+\0-Tx+;print$_^chop$me for split'',$x;
  2. Dear reader... by advocate_one · · Score: 2, Funny

    I have recently had to settle with my creditors for the sum of $1 million... could you please send some money to down_to_my_last_BMW.guy@spam.city.com I promise I will not do it again, and with the grace of God, your donation and kindness will set me on the true path

    --
    Donald 'Duck' Dunn: We had a band powerful enough to turn goat piss into gasoline.
  3. Re:So sad by MrSquirrel · · Score: 4, Funny

    spammers aren't people. now, soylent green -- that's another story!

    --
    A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing.
  4. Re:So sad by Khyber · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Except this person was a SPAMMER - he's lucky to not have been nailed under the CAN-SPAM act and actually thrown in jail - though I say he should've been charged under the act first, then taken to court. Jail time, AND fines afterwards to add on to his humiliation. Also, in the case of spammers - I heartily suggest the same route we take when we seize drugs from people - seize EVERYTHING. Leave him with nothing, as he'll have one hard hell of a time proving that the legally acquired stuff was acquired without the help of his spamming efforts.

    --
    Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
  5. Re:So sad by tlhIngan · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I don't know. But spammers make A LOT Of money - $1M is a tiny fraction of the amount he made ($55M), and his assets have to be sold to pay that $1M. So I don't feel one iota of guilt that this guy makes $55M by stealing from people, and now loses his house because he spent $55M on god-knows-what.

    And yes, spammers steal - everytime they send an email, the recipient pays for it and all intermediaries that carry it. Even if it only costed 1 cent per spam in total costs (bandwidth, electricity, hardware - to handle spam requires more bandwidth, more electricity to power more servers and cooling) from the time the spammer starts his run to when it arrives in my inbox (10 or 11 copies of same), that penny suddenly becomse $10,000 stolen from all of us. And guess who pays? We all do - in increased service fees. And what does the spammer pay? Probably a few cents for the connection time, and 10 or 15 minutes crafting the email. An hour if they want to use graphics. It certainly doesn't cost $10,000 in *his* expenses.

    And I'm not even going to talk about zombie'd computers.