Man Described As a Top Spammer Arrested

Wed May 30, 2007 9:52 PM EDT

us-news, technology, arrest, email, spam

Gene Johnson, Associated Press Writer

This article is over 14 days old and has been removed by requirement of the Associated Press.

39 Votes
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Regions: United States , Seattle/Tacoma

Public Discussion (25)

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8.1

{"commentId":746115,"authorDomain":"darkside"}

Mykola Bilokonsky

I'm normally opposed to torture and/or the death penalty, but in this case...

{"commentId":746115,"threadId":"108882","contentId":"747803","authorDomain":"darkside"}

16 votes

#1 - Thu May 31, 2007 12:40 AM EDT

{"commentId":746168,"authorDomain":"Boothby"}

Tim Boothby

Hear hear! Now and then a little cruel and unusual punishment could be overlooked.

{"commentId":746168,"threadId":"108882","contentId":"747803","authorDomain":"Boothby"}

6 votes

#1.1 - Thu May 31, 2007 1:22 AM EDT

{"commentId":746172,"authorDomain":"tombombadil"}

Tom Bombadil

Prepare the tar and feathers!

{"commentId":746172,"threadId":"108882","contentId":"747803","authorDomain":"tombombadil"}

7 votes

#1.2 - Thu May 31, 2007 1:25 AM EDT

{"commentId":746664,"authorDomain":"raatkiraani"}

Raat ki Raani

Wonder if his 'artwork' ever touched us on the Vine. Good riddance if so. Certainly a marked reduction in my corporate and personal emails recently.

{"commentId":746664,"threadId":"108882","contentId":"747803","authorDomain":"raatkiraani"}

3 votes

#1.3 - Thu May 31, 2007 9:45 AM EDT

{"commentId":746146,"authorDomain":"bmvaughn"}

bmvaughn

What a graphic, AP!

{"commentId":746146,"threadId":"108882","contentId":"747803","authorDomain":"bmvaughn"}

7 votes

#2 - Thu May 31, 2007 1:04 AM EDT

{"commentId":746218,"authorDomain":"adventurebooks"}

Robert Blevins - AB of Seattle

Quote from the article:

'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.'

The Feds are going to bury this guy under a heavy load of years in prison. You heard it here first, but I admit it's really a no-brainer. One thing about the Feds, they like to make examples of certain people and keep them long-term until their system can render them harmless.

By the time Soloway gets out of prison, what he knows about modern data systems will be as outdated as Pong...

{"commentId":746218,"threadId":"108882","contentId":"747803","authorDomain":"adventurebooks"}

5 votes

#3 - Thu May 31, 2007 2:24 AM EDT

{"commentId":746340,"authorDomain":"quixiotic"}

quixiotic

I thought my junk mail folder in gmail was a little lighter than the usual 50+ I get daily...

{"commentId":746340,"threadId":"108882","contentId":"747803","authorDomain":"quixiotic"}

3 votes

#4 - Thu May 31, 2007 5:32 AM EDT

{"commentId":747979,"authorDomain":"cartooncat"}

cartooncat

Yes...I was worried that even the spammers don't like me any more....

{"commentId":747979,"threadId":"108882","contentId":"747803","authorDomain":"cartooncat"}

3 votes

#4.1 - Thu May 31, 2007 5:04 PM EDT

{"commentId":746745,"authorDomain":"janeway77"}

Michael the Great

If they would just JUNK the current email protocols, and replace them with a system that can't be spoofed and verified the original sender, 99% of Spam would end overnight.

I'd vote for it, even if it meant retooling the entire Internet to do it.

{"commentId":746745,"threadId":"108882","contentId":"747803","authorDomain":"janeway77"}

7 votes

#5 - Thu May 31, 2007 10:16 AM EDT

{"commentId":747069,"authorDomain":"trevoke"}

Trevoke

That's pretty much what it means ;-)

{"commentId":747069,"threadId":"108882","contentId":"747803","authorDomain":"trevoke"}

4 votes

#5.1 - Thu May 31, 2007 11:57 AM EDT

{"commentId":748311,"authorDomain":"bmvaughn"}

bmvaughn

Most of that can be done via reputation schemes without scrapping the existing system. It just means that everyone has to agree on standards and actually implement them. DKIM is a great first start.

{"commentId":748311,"threadId":"108882","contentId":"747803","authorDomain":"bmvaughn"}

2 votes

#5.2 - Thu May 31, 2007 7:02 PM EDT

{"commentId":747706,"authorDomain":"boiwndr"}

Boiwndr

You guys don't even know this guy and you're all ready to condemn him to hell. Well I know Soloway personally. I've been to his house; in fact I just had dinner with him and a bunch of friends last Friday. He is a good guy when it comes down to it. In his defense, if you don't have your spam filters on, you're asking to get spammed. Honestly can you blame him for making money? You have CEO's out there that are dumping millions of gallons of oil in the ocean, killing us with air pollution, and some flying to other nations to take part in child sex acts, this guy spammed. Who do you think the real criminal?

{"commentId":747706,"threadId":"108882","contentId":"747803","authorDomain":"boiwndr"}

2 votes

#6 - Thu May 31, 2007 3:37 PM EDT

{"commentId":747733,"authorDomain":"boiwndr"}

Boiwndr

In addition, he was the #2 spammer in the US, why go for the #2 when you can go for #1?

{"commentId":747733,"threadId":"108882","contentId":"747803","authorDomain":"boiwndr"}

1 vote

#6.1 - Thu May 31, 2007 3:47 PM EDT

{"commentId":747740,"authorDomain":"darkside"}

Mykola Bilokonsky

Frankly? The spammer. It's inelegant and a crime against my sense of aesthetics.

Look, if he's stealing other peoples' computer resources to send millions of messages, as is alleged, that's a crime. It's compounded by the sheer irritation of dealing with the spam. No he's no halliburton, but he can still kiss my ass for the sheer inconvenience.

{"commentId":747740,"threadId":"108882","contentId":"747803","authorDomain":"darkside"}

2 votes

#6.2 - Thu May 31, 2007 3:50 PM EDT

{"commentId":747742,"authorDomain":"Boothby"}

Tim Boothby

Please be kidding.

{"commentId":747742,"threadId":"108882","contentId":"747803","authorDomain":"Boothby"}

#6.3 - Thu May 31, 2007 3:50 PM EDT

{"commentId":747763,"authorDomain":"deatienza"}

Eric Atienza

In his defense, if you don't have your spam filters on, you're asking to get spammed. Honestly can you blame him for making money?

If you don't lock your doors you're asking to get robbed. Can you blame a robber for making a little money by taking all the stuff from your house?

There would be no reason for spam filters if there was no spam.

You have CEO's out there that are dumping millions of gallons of oil in the ocean, killing us with air pollution, and some flying to other nations to take part in child sex acts, this guy spammed. Who do you think the real criminal?

All of them.

In addition, he was the #2 spammer in the US, why go for the #2 when you can go for #1?

Why go for one of them when you can go for both?

{"commentId":747763,"threadId":"108882","contentId":"747803","authorDomain":"deatienza"}

3 votes

#6.4 - Thu May 31, 2007 3:57 PM EDT

{"commentId":747774,"authorDomain":"boiwndr"}

Boiwndr

No I am not kidding, I think it's stupid to go after someone who isn't really harming others when you have people out there killing, raping, and going out of their way to do malicious acts against others. This guy was sending e-mail, it's not real life. People; if you're spending THAT much time on your e-mail, maybe it's best to take a look at your activities. It's electronic, it's not going to harm you, and it's not going to hurt you to click "Delete all spam". Again, if you don't have filters up and running, you're asking to get spammed. Lets use our resources to catch real crooks; the ones that are doing the things above.

{"commentId":747774,"threadId":"108882","contentId":"747803","authorDomain":"boiwndr"}

1 vote

#6.5 - Thu May 31, 2007 4:01 PM EDT

{"commentId":747780,"authorDomain":"raatkiraani"}

Raat ki Raani

I can't stand spammers because they mess with my emails and how I interact with the world. But this spammer's freind here does have a point!

{"commentId":747780,"threadId":"108882","contentId":"747803","authorDomain":"raatkiraani"}

2 votes

#6.6 - Thu May 31, 2007 4:03 PM EDT

{"commentId":747992,"authorDomain":"cartooncat"}

cartooncat

It may not harm people per se...but it costs a huge amount in terms of time and money to businesses and individuals, as well as clogging up networks and servers.

{"commentId":747992,"threadId":"108882","contentId":"747803","authorDomain":"cartooncat"}

3 votes

#6.7 - Thu May 31, 2007 5:08 PM EDT

{"commentId":748168,"authorDomain":"Boothby"}

Tim Boothby

Not to mention taking control of other people's computers.

{"commentId":748168,"threadId":"108882","contentId":"747803","authorDomain":"Boothby"}

#6.8 - Thu May 31, 2007 6:04 PM EDT

{"commentId":748260,"authorDomain":"raatkiraani"}

Raat ki Raani

taking control of other people's computers

Is that a spammer or a hacker?

{"commentId":748260,"threadId":"108882","contentId":"747803","authorDomain":"raatkiraani"}

1 vote

#6.9 - Thu May 31, 2007 6:41 PM EDT

{"commentId":748390,"authorDomain":"bmvaughn"}

bmvaughn

This guy was sending e-mail, it's not real life.

It's naive to think that a multi-billion dollar industry is not real life.

Keep in mind that email is simply the newest channel for unsolicited marketing. Before, it was junk mail. Was that real life? What's next? Spim?

What if the unsolicited marketing messages were here in the Newsvine comments. I know they can build technologies to allow us to filter those comments out and demote them, but is that the best use of their time? Would that be real-life?

By the way - for a guy that sounds well-versed in email, you should know that the up-and-coming spelling is emailE-mail or e-mail. Remember how it used to be "web site" and "on-line"? Lordy, am I glad those are gone :)

{"commentId":748390,"threadId":"108882","contentId":"747803","authorDomain":"bmvaughn"}

1 vote

#6.10 - Thu May 31, 2007 7:38 PM EDT

{"commentId":748394,"authorDomain":"bmvaughn"}

bmvaughn

Fix:
By the way - for a guy that sounds well-versed in email, you should know that the up-and-coming spelling is email. Not E-mail or e-mail. Remember how it used to be "web site" and "on-line"? Lordy, am I glad those are gone :)

{"commentId":748394,"threadId":"108882","contentId":"747803","authorDomain":"bmvaughn"}

1 vote

#6.11 - Thu May 31, 2007 7:39 PM EDT

{"commentId":748538,"authorDomain":"boiwndr"}

Boiwndr

You can say it's creating jobs, or putting money into the middle or lower class. Because people are having to work overtime, or companies are having to hire more people to do general upkeep on the server. And if someone wants to get so into this discussion and upset about my views they have to knock on me spelling e-mail, email or online on-line lets get a life. You are one of those people I am talking about who have WAY too much time on your hands.

{"commentId":748538,"threadId":"108882","contentId":"747803","authorDomain":"boiwndr"}

1 vote

#6.12 - Thu May 31, 2007 8:59 PM EDT

{"commentId":748794,"authorDomain":"bmvaughn"}

bmvaughn

Hehe.. or I just work in the email industry.

All in good fun. I don't see us agreeing on this one, so probably best if we put it to bed, no?

{"commentId":748794,"threadId":"108882","contentId":"747803","authorDomain":"bmvaughn"}

1 vote

#6.13 - Thu May 31, 2007 11:19 PM EDT

{"canLink":false,"threadId":"108882","isPrivate":false}

Top 10' Spammer to Spend Time in the Slammer	Wired News	Thu May 31	1
Money News: - Feds Arrest Alleged Top Spammer - AOL Money & Finance	AOL	Fri Jun 1	0
Feds Arrest 'Spam King' On 9 Charges	informationweek.com	Thu May 31	0
Man described as a top spammer arrested	Yahoo! News	Thu May 31	0
Feds Arrest 'Spam King' in Seattle	cio-today.com	Thu May 31	2

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