If you hate spam, you'll love this!
A 27-year-old man described as one of the world's top spammers was arrested Wednesday, a development that federal authorities said could lead to an immediate, perceptible decrease in the amount of junk e-mail winging its way across the Web.
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."
Robert Alan Soloway's arrest came a week after a federal grand jury returned a 35-count indictment charging him with mail fraud, wire fraud, e-mail fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering. He's accused of using networks of compromised computers to send out millions upon millions of junk e-mails since 2003. He continued his activities even after Microsoft won a $7 million civil judgment against him in 2005 and Robert Brauer, the operator of a small Internet service provider in western Oklahoma, won a $10 million judgment, prosecutors said.
U.S. Attorney Jeff Sullivan said Wednesday 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, and it would mean at least an extra two years on Soloway's sentence if he is convicted. He could face decades in prison, though prosecutors said they have not calculated what guideline sentencing range he might face.
I think the key here is the identity theft charge. That's exactly what spoofing is. And it's incredibly damaging to the businesses who have had their domain names compromised.
We'll see where this goes and how long it takes to get there. But for now. . . chalk one up for the good guys.
By the way, let me know if you notice "an immediate, perceptible decrease in the amount of junk e-mail" you receive.
