Text 7665, 85 rader
Skriven 2005-10-16 11:02:04 av Rich Gauszka (1:379/45)
   Kommentar till text 7662 av Ellen K. (1:379/45)
Ärende: Re: Spammer fined 37 million
====================================
From: "Rich Gauszka" <gauszka@hotmail.com>

Another spam king took a hit this week

http://www.detnews.com/2005/technology/0510/16/B01-349738.htm

Michigan's unapologetic king of bulk e-mail is in trouble again. This time, an
FBI raid has closed what some consider one of the world's largest houses of
spam.

Warrants unsealed last week revealed that agents in September seized computers,
laptops, financial records and disks from the 8,000-square-foot home of Alan M.
Ralsky. The $750,000 West Bloomfield mini-mansion was built off profits from
the 100 million electronic offers for everything from Botox to mortgages that
Ralsky sends every day.

We're out of business at this point in time," Ralsky said last week. "They
didn't shut us down. They took all our equipment, which had the effect of
shutting us down."

The raid is the latest episode in a cat-and-mouse game between anti-spammers
and Ralsky, 60, a gregarious, heavy-smoking ex-convict considered Public Enemy
No. 1 in some pockets of the Internet.

In 2002, Ralsky agreed to an undisclosed cash settlement to end a landmark
lawsuit from Verizon Internet Services, which alleged he twice paralyzed its
network in 2000 with his pitches for diet pills, vacations and such. The deal
forbade Ralsky's companies from sending spam on its networks.

Last year, Michigan lawmakers passed legislation that allows parents to put
their children's e-mail addresses on do-not-spam lists. Even though he insists
he doesn't target kids, Ralsky was an inspiration for the bills.

"Michigan has been called a cesspool for Internet spam, and Ralsky is
recognized as one of the worst," said the bills' sponsor, Sen. Mike Bishop,
R-Rochester.

"I've been waiting for this moment. I knew it was a matter of time before the
law caught up to him."

Terry Berg, the top deputy in the U.S. Attorney's Detroit office, declined to
comment on the probe.

The home of Ralsky's son-in-law, Scott Bradley, also of West Bloomfield, was
also raided in September.

The federal CAN-SPAM law that took effect last year tries to make spammers play
fair.

It bans tricks, such as misleading subject lines or e-mails that appear to be
from friends. Commercial e-mail must be clearly identified as such, and must
label porn pitches as "sexually explicit."

The law also forbids spammers from using multiple e-mail addresses or domain
names to camouflage their identities. Penalties include up to 20 years'
imprisonment and an $11,000 fine per offense.

Warrants show FBI agents sought evidence Ralsky and Bradley sent commercial
e-mail using at least 14 domain names.

"I'm not a spammer," Ralsky said. "I'm a commercial e-mailer."



"Ellen K." <72322.1016@compuserve.com> wrote in message
news:viu3l15ol5626c41amidq4nj34qc7fcifp@4ax.com...
> Good to hear the operation has been shut down.
>
> Are we taking bets as to whether the $37 million will ever be paid?
>
> On Fri, 14 Oct 2005 16:19:46 -0400, "Rich Gauszka" <gauszka@hotmail.com>
> wrote in message <43501291@w3.nls.net>:
>
>>
>>http://news.yahoo.com/s/cmp/20051014/tc_cmp/172300920
>>
>>The Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General is looking for Leo
>>Kuveyev,
>>the leader of the "Internet Spam Gang," whose illegal spam operation was
>>fined $37 million by a Boston judge this week.
>>
>>We believe he is in Russia," said assistant attorney general Scott Schafer

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