TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: Re: Top Spammer Arrested; Watch for Decrease in Spam Mail

Re: Top Spammer Arrested; Watch for Decrease in Spam Mail

Steven Lichter (diespammers@ikillspammers.com)
Thu, 31 May 2007 08:30:53 -0700

Gene Johnson wrote:

> By GENE JOHNSON, AP Legal Affairs Writer

> A 27-year-old man described as one of the world's most prolific
> spammers was arrested Wednesday, and federal authorities said computer
> users across the Web could notice a decrease in the amount of junk
> e-mail.

> Robert Alan Soloway is accused of using networks of compromised
> "zombie" computers to send out millions upon millions of spam e-mails.

> "He's one of the top 10 spammers in the world," said Tim Cranton, a
> Microsoft Corp. lawyer who is senior director of the company's
> Worldwide Internet Safety Programs. "He's a huge problem for our
> customers. This is a very good day."

> A federal grand jury last week returned a 35-count indictment against
> Soloway charging him with mail fraud, wire fraud, e-mail fraud,
> aggravated identity theft and money laundering.

> Soloway pleaded not guilty Wednesday afternoon to all charges after a
> judge determined that -- even with four bank accounts seized by the
> government -- he was sufficiently well off to pay for his own lawyer.

> He has been living in a ritzy apartment and drives an expensive
> Mercedes convertible, said prosecutor Kathryn Warma. Prosecutors are
> seeking to have him forfeit $773,000 they say he made from his
> business, Newport Internet Marketing Corp.

> A public defender who represented him for Wednesday's hearing declined
> to comment.

> Prosecutors say Soloway used computers infected with malicious code to
> send out millions of junk e-mails since 2003. The computers are called
> "zombies" because owners typically have no idea their machines have
> been infected.

> He continued his activities even after Microsoft won a $7 million
> civil judgment against him in 2005 and the operator of a small
> Internet service provider in Oklahoma won a $10 million judgment,
> prosecutors said.

> U.S. Attorney Jeff Sullivan said Wednesday that the case is the first
> in the country in which federal prosecutors have used identity theft
> statutes to prosecute a spammer for taking over someone else's
> Internet domain name. Soloway could face decades in prison, though
> prosecutors said they have not calculated what guideline sentencing
> range he might face.

> The investigation began when the authorities began receiving hundreds
> of complaints about Soloway, who had been featured on a list of known
> spammers kept by The Spamhaus Project, an international anti-spam
> organization.

> The Santa Barbara County, Calif., Department of Social Services said
> it was spending $1,000 a week to fight the spam it was receiving, and
> other businesses and individuals complained of having their
> reputations damaged when it appeared spam was originating from their
> computers.

> "This is not just a nuisance. This is way beyond a nuisance," Warma
> said.

> Soloway used the networks of compromised computers to send out
> unsolicited bulk e-mails urging people to use his Internet marketing
> company to advertise their products, authorities said.

> People who clicked on a link in the e-mail were directed to his Web
> site. There, Soloway advertised his ability to send out as many as 20
> million e-mail advertisements over 15 days for $495, the indictment
> said.

> The Spamhaus Project rejoiced at his arrest.

> "Soloway has been a long-term nuisance on the Internet -- both in
> terms of the spam he sent, and the people he duped to use his spam
> service," organizers wrote on Spamhaus.org.

> Soloway remained in federal detention pending a hearing Monday.

> Copyright 2007 The Associated Press.

I think they should shoot him and posted a picture of his dead body on
the net!!!!

The Only Good Spammer is a Dead one!! Have you hunted one down today?
(c) 2007 I Kill Spammers, Inc. A Rot In Hell Co.

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