Keep spammer in the slammer

June 03, 2007
Scarcely a day goes by for Internet users without at least a few annoying "spam" items popping into the e-mail box.

More power, then, to the savvy law enforcement officials who followed a trail of junk e-mail and arrested 27-year-old Robert Soloway in Seattle. Soloway has been described as one of the world's worst spammers.

Authorities say Soloway used networks of infected "zombie" computers to send millions of unwanted e-mails. They predicted a noticeable decrease in junk e-mails now that he faces 35 counts of mail fraud, wire fraud, e-mail fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering. Sadly, other criminals are always ready to step into the void one of their colleagues leaves behind.

Soloway operated under cover of a business he called Newport Internet Marketing Corp. According to federal prosecutors, Soloway used the networks of computers he infected with code to enable him to issue unsolicited bulk e-mails. Those e-mails encouraged businesses to hire his Internet marketing company to advertise their products.

A link in the e-mail connected users to his Web site, where he boasted of an ability to send up to 20 million e-mails in 15 days for a small fee.

Prosecutors are using identity theft laws to prosecute Soloway because he used other people's computers, essentially taking over their domain names without their knowledge, to perpetrate his crimes.

Let's hope the charges stick. Soloway has survived previous setbacks. Consider that Microsoft won a $7 million civil judgment against him in 2005, and an Oklahoma-based Internet service provider in Oklahoma won a $10 million judgment, but prosecutors said Soloway continued his illegal activities.

It's hard to understand why someone with Soloway's expertise wouldn't simply ply his skills legitimately. Opportunities abound for honest and lucrative entrepreneurs who know how to use the Internet.

Apparently, he has a taste for the dark side. If prosecutors convict him, authorities should sentence Soloway to hard time. His connivances have already done much harm and have the potential to fleece millions more unsuspecting computer users.

poconorecord