| "Spam king" arrested, faces multiple charges |
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| by Stephen Withers | |
| Friday, 01 June 2007 | |
  
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Allegations include the sale of broadcast mail software that did not work as advertised, falsely claiming that a broadcast mail service used a "Permission-Based Opt-In" database, failing to remove addresses from the database when requested, use of a credit card without the account holder's consent, forging real email addresses in the from and to headers of spam messages, and providing a false corporate address. If convicted, Soloway and his company Newport Internet Marketing stand to forfeit over $US770,000 plus the contents of several bank accounts. He also faces the prospect of a prison sentence of up to 65 years. At one stage, Soloway was on the Spamhaus list of the "worst of the worst" criminal spammers. According to a Spamhaus statement, "Soloway's violations of the U.S. CAN-SPAM law and various state anti-spam laws resulted in his being sued successfully by a number of plaintiffs, including Microsoft Corporation and Robert Braver, owner of an Oklahoma-based ISP. Both Microsoft and Braver received damage awards of millions of dollars. Soloway never paid these awards". Spamhaus also notes that in 2005 a US District Court judge issued a permanent injunction forbidding Soloway from sending messages that contravened the CAN-SPAM act, but he ignored it. Spam filtering specialists welcomed Soloway's arrest, but warned it is unlikely to have any significant effect on spam volumes - except perhaps in the short term - as there are plenty of other players that can take up the slack.{moscomment} |
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