The " King Of Spam " Is Arrested .

[FlameX 0]

The notorious spammer authorities dubbed "the King of Spam" is facing a possible 26-year jail sentence after pleading guilty in Seattle on Friday to charges of fraud and tax evasion.
Robert Soloway, 28, had already been found guilty of spam charges in several civil cases -- Microsoft won a US$7.8 million judgment against him in 2005 -- but had avoided paying fines in those cases. The criminal charges to which he pleaded guilty on Friday followed his arrest in 2007 by the U.S. Justice Department.

He was arrested on criminal charges brought by the U.S. Department of Justice in May 2007.

In a 2005 discussion group post, Soloway bragged, "I've been sued for hundreds of millions of dollars and have had my business running for over 10 years without ever paying a dime regardless to the outcome of any lawsuits."

That year, Soloway raked in more than $300,000 from his spam operations, according to his plea agreement.

Soloway has avoided fines in the past, but this time around he may not be so lucky. In addition to the jail time he now faces, he has also agreed to discuss his financial assets while being monitored by a lie detector.

While there have been hundreds of spam prosecutions in the U.S., it is extremely rare for spammers to face criminal charges, and those involved in the matter say that Soloway's case could serve as a deterrent to other spammers.

In an interview last month, Microsoft Senior Attorney Aaron Kornblum said he thought the prosecution would make other spammers think twice. "There have not been a large number of criminal CAN-SPAM prosecutions in the U.S.," he said. "This is significant."

Soloway is set to be sentenced on June 20. The prosecution had been seeking $700,000 in damages when Soloway was first charged nearly a year ago.

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[sonesay 7]

Man you had me worried there lol I thought I was in trouble. I'm sure there will be others to take their place as spam can be a very lucrative profession. Its a risky one as you can see and probably requires you to bend the rules too much or even break them to the point where you get in trouble. Criminal activity more like it.

Edited March 16, 2008 by sonesay (see edit history)

[Lyon2 0]

I hate spammers like that one.I am sure that they are spammers simply because they do not know nothing else to do, they do not have a job, a real and day job in their lifes, they usually just be at home or outside but using their portable.I hate when i open my e-mail inbox and it is full of crap e-mail messages with junk, if only they sent me useful stuff, either way, they do not have respect for anyone because they are only interested in earning money, and they do not care if we do not like or not, if we find it useful or not, they just care to earn the easy money, at least for a while, till someone is cought like this one that thought would not be arrested, guess again you spammer!I just hope i do not meet a spammer in my life, i am afraid of my reaction to this kind of people sometimes.

Edited March 17, 2008 by Lyon2 (see edit history)

[FlameX 0]

well i hate spammers too .. even i am fed up with the spams in my email account . i dont min sending useful spams but don send all crap spams but i do appreciate it .. coz spamming gives a lot revenue n a very innovative way of earning . well i wudnt mind meeting a spammer one day ... but i hope he doesnt spam me then >

[slave 0]

spammers. oh my GOD.. well i hate spammers too ..specailly in chat room i hate this things. and yeah E-amil spams.. in real the dont leave you on internet. on every step they come behinds you. i guess sofar there is not prefect way invented to stop these spams even yahoo did like in yahoo chat rooms it helped to reduce the spamms . but they have not you yet succesed completey in it.

[adriantc 0]

Everybody hates spammers! ... My yahoo email is bombarded daily with tens of spam emails. It's partly my fault because I registered with my good email to all kinds of doubtful websites, but lately it is becoming very annoying! Some of them even get into the inbox... It seems they are becoming better into cheating the spam filters! And I can't simply change my email since everyone knows it!It is very interesting for why they arrested him - fraud and tax evasion. He is like a virtual Al Capone. It's a good thing he is behind bars, but they should make more efforts to stop his buddies too!

[guangdian 0]

coz of the credit system,i think there is a "king of spammer" of Xisto.it's aim is post again and again but they don't know how to say then they ctrl C and ctrl V ..times..always.

[hotchick2121 0]

aw haha i thought it was SM when i saw the title... 2 bad.. >_<

[demonlord 0]

yeah i thought Saint-Michael was the king of spam.

[Forbez 0]

This is great to hear, spam is annoying. but they'll only be a new king to replace him y'know.