14 DAY TRIAL // The biggest spammer in the world, Robert Alan Soloway, was finally arrested today after the court charged him for mail fraud, email fraud, identity theft, money laundering and wire fraud. The 27-year-old man was the founder of Newport Internet Marketing, the company that was also used for spamming. Actually, he managed to send millions of spam messages through hacked computers that were then used as points for sending the unwanted emails. Although he pleaded not guilty, the spammer might receive a 65 years in prison sentence and a maximum fine of $250.000.
"He's one of the top 10 spammers in the world. He's a huge problem for our customers. This is a very good day," Tim Cranton, a Microsoft Corp. lawyer sustained according to Tech Shout. "Our investigators dubbed him the 'Spam King' because he is responsible for millions of spam emails," said US Attorney for the Western District of Washington Jeffrey Sullivan according to the same source.
Most of the authorities were delighted with the arrest, some of them even sustaining that the amount of spam sent to users' computer is already reduced. "Soloway has been a long-term nuisance on the Internet - both in terms of the spam he sent, and the people he duped to use his spam service," organizers wrote on Spamhaus.org as Tech Shout reports.
A final decision is expected on Monday but most of the analysts are expecting a sentence containing years in prison as the spammer admitted that he sent unsolicited email messages to some addresses.
As you can see, the authorities from all around the world are fighting to reduce the amount of spam sent to our inboxes, but until now, only some of us might consider themselves lucky. For example, the Singapore government is trying to promote some new laws that bring tougher punishments for the spammers.