Article

2004-05-27 -Short Attention Span Theater-

Spammers Face Jail Time Under New Md. Law

Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.

Posted by Fred 2004-05-27 12:40:46 PM|| || Front Page|| [1 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Will this law apply to trolls also?

Posted by Mr. Davis 2004-05-27 1:04:04 PM|| 2004-05-27 1:04:04 PM|| Front Page Top

#2 it about goddam time!

Posted by muck4doo 2004-05-27 1:23:15 PM|| [http://meatismurder.blogspot.com/] 2004-05-27 1:23:15 PM|| Front Page Top

#3 Spammers make the impact of file sharing look like a prank. Spammers are blunting the edge of America's incredibly valuable Internet toolkit. Both spammers and virus disseminators need to face mandatory felony charges with hard time upon conviction. The collective damage done by these scumbags is astronomical. Sadly, our technologically illiterate politicians have little more than a subatomic clue as to these issues' importance.

Posted by Zenster 2004-05-27 1:26:16 PM|| 2004-05-27 1:26:16 PM|| Front Page Top

#4 1) I would support immediate execution for e-mail spammers, no appeals, but the g#@-d@#^*& ACLU keeps getting in the way.

2) Back in the days when spam was a new phenomenon and you could actually complain to someone about it, I used to ask ISP providers to send spammers the secret code the cause them to be electrocuted when they touched their keyboards. Alas, it didn't work.

3) Filtering e-mail: Apple's Mail client works better than most in filtering spam without any work on your part. Of course, you have to use a Mac :-)

Posted by Steve White 2004-05-27 1:32:57 PM|| 2004-05-27 1:32:57 PM|| Front Page Top

#5 I was so happy to get email from Mucky, but when I opened it I didn't really think he loved animals *that* way.

Posted by Seafarious 2004-05-27 2:12:40 PM|| 2004-05-27 2:12:40 PM|| Front Page Top

#6 Of course, it's only a matter of time before you see something like this:

GREETINGS AND FELICITATIONS. I AM MRS. MARIAM ABACHA, THE WIDOW OF THE LATE COMPUTER MARKETING EXECUTIVE HAROLD Q. ABACHA, WHO WAS ARRESTED IN MARYLAND ON FALSE SPAM CHARGES AND DIED IN CUSTODY UNDER MYSTERIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES. BEFORE HIS DEATH HE DEPOSITED 18.5 MILLION OPT-IN E-MAIL ADDRESSES WITH A SECURITY COMPANY IN AMSTERDAM . . . .

Posted by Mike 2004-05-27 2:16:32 PM|| 2004-05-27 2:16:32 PM|| Front Page Top

#7 'Buffalo Spammer' Sentenced to 3-1/2 to 7 Years

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A New York state man who sent out millions of "spam" e-mails was sentenced to 3-1/2 to seven years in prison, the state attorney general's office said on Thursday.

Howard Carmack, known as the "Buffalo Spammer," received the maximum sentence for 14 counts of identity theft and forgery, a spokesman for New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said.

Carmack sent out 825 million bulk e-mail messages using stolen identities and forged addresses, the court found, and was the first defendant to face charges under the state's new identity-theft statute.

He was found guilty in April.

The forgery conviction fetched the longest sentence, while the other convictions drew shorter sentences of one year to four years. All will be served concurrently, Spitzer spokesman Brad Maione said.

Carmack could be out in 3-1/2 should he behave in prison, Maione said.

Internet provider EarthLink Inc. won a $16.5 million judgment against Carmack last year, and EarthLink officials testified in the criminal trial as well.

One down, thousands to go... Actually probably less than a hundred...

Posted by Fred 2004-05-27 2:22:44 PM|| 2004-05-27 2:22:44 PM|| Front Page Top

#8 "Carmack could be out in 3-1/2 should he behave in prison..."

Heh heh heh. Sounds like an effective deterrent alright. But what about his ill-gotten gains? Has his soft top been auctioned? His bank accounts emptied? Hope so.

Of course, this'll only affect US spammers, right?

Posted by Bulldog 2004-05-27 2:43:05 PM|| 2004-05-27 2:43:05 PM|| Front Page Top

#9 I keep waiting for a class action lawsuit for "meta carpel tunnel syndrome" victims who were forced to click the delete key 825 million times in the case of the Buffalo spammer. Forget time based sentencing- sit the bastard down at a keyboard and make him delete 825 million pop ups and emails, one at a time and he will be released when he is through.
Oh yeah,he should be made to wear women's underwear on his head, too... OK nevermind the last one.

Posted by Capsu78 2004-05-27 3:14:22 PM|| 2004-05-27 3:14:22 PM|| Front Page Top

#10 Capsu78-You might get someone in this country who enjoys women's underwear on the head. That isn't as effective as in Iraq.

Posted by BigEd 2004-05-27 4:48:17 PM|| 2004-05-27 4:48:17 PM|| Front Page Top

#11 To anyone with a Spam problem I suggest a e-mail prefilter program "PopFile". Its free, and uses an Adaptive learning technique that is very effective. It examines the headers and text and rates its 'spammyness' and marks the message so filters can distribute the message easily. If it gets it wrong, it changes its ratings so that messages like the new one are now 'spammy'.

I also get 300 emails a day of which over 97 percent are spam. Currently Popfile makes errors about once a week or so. Far more effective than the one I bought which like Fred's let about 10-15 percent through.

popfile.sourceforge.net

Posted by Chris Smith 2004-05-27 6:56:53 PM|| 2004-05-27 6:56:53 PM|| Front Page Top

#12 Just checked my Yahoo account, the one I use at my frequently updated and widely read website. I don't do it frequently (yes, check mail and update, heh, last mail check was 4/15) and this prompted me to do so now. Out of 432 I got, only one was legitimate. The only other one I opened had a virus in it.

I wish on the Buffalo Spammer and endless loop of every football game played by the Buffalo Bills during their four years when they made it to the Super Bowl, with his eyes pried open like Alex in 'A Clockwork Orange'.

Posted by Raj 2004-05-27 7:38:04 PM|| [http://angrycyclist.blogspot.com] 2004-05-27 7:38:04 PM|| Front Page Top

06:16 Howard UK
05:18 Spoluth Snurt2166
13:00 Anonymous5031
04:13 Mark Espinola
03:48 Anonymous4617
01:24 Tibor
01:19 JFM
01:09 tipper
00:35 Barbara Skolaut
00:33 Barbara Skolaut
00:19 Jen
23:39 Long Hair Republican
23:37 RWV
23:32 11A5S
23:21 Darth VAda
23:17 Atomic Conspiracy
23:11 Super Hose
23:03 ed
23:02 ed
23:00 Super Hose
22:52 Deacon Blues
22:50 RWV
22:50 Super Hose
22:50 Tibor