Feds: Notorious Seattle spammer indicted, Soloway gets it! Options

[rooster]

Rather than expend valuable SC bandwidth, I entered a suggestion on a 'blog' about the possible entertainment value of keeping in touch with Mr. Soloway during his dalliance among the friendly folk at Seatac... if anyone is interested.

http://boundarybaymorningsteamer.blogspot....enge-of_16.html

[Farelf]

Thank you Rod. Not the same since they stopped using the stocks for reasons of public hygiene but that may suffice.

GSS

[Farelf]

Update on:

...My other account is "routine" but distinctly subdued, maybe 25% of "normal" volumes.

That being my work address for which the numbers crept up in the last week and then back to "normal" or more over the weekend (Fri night - Mon morning). Not many but the average for the (almost) 7 months since the logging for the Abuse! reporter started is 6.9 pd and the weekend produced 9.5 pd. That may be a significant change (without actually crunching the numbers). The home account (SC reporting) remains "depressed". More real mail than spam for weeks (a month) now. Which is certainly not depressing.

Hmm... wildcards are useable in the Excel spreadsheet COUNTIF() function - only just stumbled across that (thinking it would be nice if it were so, and behold ...). Like =COUNTIF(A1:A10058,"="&B10061&"*") where B10061 contains the common start of a string expression of variable length, found in one row only of each record, records comprising a (potentially) variable number of rows.

[Farelf]

Well, I've said it before, myself - if your spam levels have dropped it probably means your provider is filtering like mad (and dropping the detritus). Got around to delving into my home account settings last night, found anti-spam filtering is in place, enabled by default (Symantec Brightmail) with delete by default. Toggled to "label " instead of "delete" and in a 12 hour period when I have lately getting 4-5 spam I received 71.

I guess my provider told me they were doing all of this, sometime. But not around the time of the sudden reduction. Anyway, all those dear little spammers are still out there, still lusting after my riches (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif), my address permanently engraved in their magic lists, it seems. Reassuring, in a way. Saw the visiting Egyptian Antiquities exhibition on loan from the Louvre on the weekend. Those people went to a lot of trouble for their "immortality". Mine came free, merely by having an email address.

[Wazoo]

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/346878_spamking11.html .... January 10, 2008 8:34 p.m. PT

Four more charges against 'Spam King'
Seattle man now faces 40 counts of cybercrimes

A Seattle man dubbed the "Spam King" for allegedly using stolen e-mail addresses and "zombie" computers to send massive amounts of spam was arraigned Thursday on four more criminal charges.

The new charges -- aggravated identity theft, mail fraud and two counts of willful failure to file income tax -- boost the number of federal charges Robert Soloway faces to 40.

Soloway, 27, has pleaded not guilty to all counts.
.......
Investigators say Soloway used a controversial software called Dark Mailer, which allows users to tap into a network of proxy computers to send bulk e-mails with near-total anonymity. Investigators believe Soloway made more than $1 million over four years by sending millions of pieces of spam.

Court documents say Soloway, long reviled by international anti-spam groups, sent more than 90 million e-mails in three months through just two of the servers he used.

Soloway remains free on bond pending trial in March.

[rconner]

The new charges -- aggravated identity theft, mail fraud and two counts of willful failure to file income tax -- boost the number of federal charges Robert Soloway faces to 40

Throwing the kitchen sink...yeah, I like it. Should keep his lawyers on the job for quite a while come spring.

-- rick

[rconner]

I was looking through Soloway's case file on spamsuite.com and found this tidbit in Soloway's (apparently unsuccessful) response to the motion for detention (http://www.spamsuite.com/node/140):

Although Robert suffers from Tourette disorder, anxiety, and depression, these physical and mental conditions will not interfere with his ability to appear for future court appearances.

Don't know about the Tourette's, but I can well imagine the anxiety and depression at work here.

-- rick

[Farelf]

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/346878_spamking11.html .... January 10, 2008 8:34 p.m. PT

Four more charges against 'Spam King'
Seattle man now faces 40 counts of cybercrimes
...
The new charges -- aggravated identity theft, mail fraud and two counts of willful failure to file income tax -- boost the number of federal charges Robert Soloway faces to 40. ...

Hey, that's interesting

The continuing investigation turned up a new alleged victim of ID theft, in London -- identified in court documents as "T.C."

Soloway is accused of stealing T.C.'s e-mail address and using it in a forged spam e-mail header to make recipients believe it came from T.C.

Aggravated ID theft carries a mandatory two-year sentence to be served consecutive to prison time received for other convictions. Soloway already faces several other ID theft charges.

- implying most/nearly all spammers are carrying out "Aggravated ID theft". Maybe we should be filing all spam (or representative samples) which forges our respective addresses JIC it might be proferred as evidence against other scum in future cases. If the seattlepi reporter has got the story right.

[Devilwolf]

I was reading the comments about him posted on one of the local seattle boards..
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/346878_spamking11.html

People actually sound sorry for him, and feel he is being persecuted... How do people who obviously don't own a computer or use email get on to sites to post comments? Are these all comments from crack heads at the local library in Seattle?

"This is a classic case of finding someone whose behavior is villanous and misusing statutes to overcharge him."

"What do people have against entrepreneurs? "

[Farelf]

...Are these all comments from crack heads at the local library in Seattle?...

Those are the comments of the three people in the known universe who don't want to lynch the little bugger - or maybe they're all just his mother using different (pseudo)nyms, a more believable proposition. If that woman had only kept her legs crossed ... still, there will be more to take his place and we can't blame their progenitors.

[Devilwolf]

Those are the comments of the three people in the known universe who don't want to lynch the little bugger - or maybe they're all just his mother using different (pseudo)nyms, a more believable proposition. If that woman had only kept her legs crossed ... still, there will be more to take his place and we can't blame their progenitors.

Except that you hear it all the time... Its a strange logic... its wrong if one person was to steal a $1,000 from another individual or business, but OK if 10,000 people each steal a penny from everyone with a computer AND annoy you at the same time.

[Farelf]

Well, it has been a long journey but ... 'spam King' gets nearly 4 years in prison and his lawyer reckons they wuz robbed - 'Although Soloway acknowledged that he sent out a huge number of illegal spam e-mails, defense attorney Robert Wayne said there was "not a shred of evidence" that he used zombie computers to do it.' Well, there's blind justice for you - and his unfairly maligned client can presumably only rustle up 24 pairs of shoes and 27 pairs of sunglasses with which to pay the retainer and expenses. Now that's the part that would really hurt that good Officer of the Court. Some days it's just not worth gnawing through the straps.

[Devilwolf]

Another slap on the wrist... Soloway will be running "You Can Make Millions with spam" classes at Club Fed.

The guys who post unreleased movies on torrrent sites for fun get stiffer sentences.

Personally I prefer the way that russian spammer was dealth with a few years ago... They found him in his apt with his head beaten in.

When soloway gets out I'm 99% sure he'll get right back into spamming, except that he'll probably move a spam haven.

Although I can hope that his tourettes will happen to manifest in prison at just the wrong time, or that his depression will be untreated and he'll hang himself in is cell. Who knows, maybe one of the guards will have been joe-jobbed by him.

Someone get his address in jail and put him on the NAMBLA mailing list (North American Man-Boy Love Association aka Short Eyes Club)

This post has been edited by Devilwolf: Jul 24 2008, 12:22 PM

[Farelf]

...Personally I prefer the way that russian spammer was dealth with a few years ago... They found him in his apt with his head beaten in. ...

Some were hopeful that a trend had been established but the Russian police determined at the time it was just a burglary gone wrong. Presumably his "conspicuous consumption" enabled by the proceeds of his crimes made him a target for the truly desperate / evil / psychotic / psychopathic (reader's choice). Rough 'justice' by any measure, by nature random and barbaric.

[btech]

lol... I live in Seattle and know where that detention center is.

[Farelf]

lol... I live in Seattle and know where that detention center is.

Well don't go throwing messages to him over the walls - they'll arrest you.