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Email Marketing InformationBUSTED: Opposed Spam Forces Bankrupt Super-Spammer Scott Richter
by:
Paul Judge, CTO, CipherTrust, Inc.
Microsoft scores one for the nice guys
Scott Richter, the self-proclaimed “Spam King,” just can’t seem to get enough attention. True responsible for causing virtually
billions of Unsought Commercial Email messages (UCE), Richter ready-made headlines once again recently once
his spam-fed cash cow, OptInRealBig.com, filed for bankruptcy protection in U.S. federal court in his house state of Colorado. According to Richter’s father (who is besides his attorney), “It’s the legal fees that are banging the company. OptIn is profitable but for these lawsuits.”
At the time of its bankruptcy filing, OptInRealBig.com claimed assets of less than $10 million and liabilities of over $50 million. Richter claimed his institution ready-made $15 million a year causing more than 15 million email messages per day. However, in 2003, OptInRealBig was dealt a powerful 1-2 punch from Microsoft and Eliot Spitzer, the Lawyer General of New York; several sued Richter under local state opposed spam laws. Though the New Dynasty case was settled out of court last year, Richter has had no such luck dealing with Microsoft, whose claims top $19 million.
A Case of Worldwide Amnesia?
Richter's institution and others like it market products travel from diet pills to pornography. He’s besides been defendant of exploitation spam to extract personal information from unsuspecting recipients. For instance, one alleged scheme hatched by Richter and his associates secure
recipients a copy of a "Girls Gone Wild" DVD if the recipient registered on a website. The registration information was then used to bombard the recipient with more and more spam.
Richter contends that his methods are all legal, and that he’s just a regular guy trying to do right by the world; he’s even as gone so far as to claim that he’s a “victim” of fanatic opposed spam companies and prosecutors. “We don't spam,” explained Richter in an August 2004 PC Earth interview. “The biggest problem is once
folk get an email that they think they didn't sign up for or don't remember sign language up for, and they call it spam.”
To hear Richter tell it, tens of millions of folk just forgot that they had antecedently
asked to obtain his messages. According to the state of New York, however, he falsified header information and used deceptive routing and domain purchase practices in order to get his messages through. The suit besides defendant Richter of exploitation a network of about 500 “zombie” computers to send his messages. Once
asked how so galore users could have signed
and not remember doing so, Richter claimed the signups must have been via anonymous "partners of our partners" web sites, the names of which slipped his mind.
Not Simply an Online Threat
Evidently not satisfied with stealing bandwidth, Richter besides shows a preference for heavy equipment. In an unrelated 2003 case, he was put on probation after pleading guilty to a crime charge of receiving purloined items worth more than $10,000. According to court records, an informant's tip regarding a purloined Bay lynx loader led clandestine officers to Richter. Over the course of 13 months, the officers proceeded to strike deals with him for a Honda generator, hundreds of cases of cigarettes, three laptop computer computers and another items, all offered at suspiciously low prices and purchased in several of Denver’s seediest neighborhoods. In addition to probation, Richter was besides ordered to pay $38,000 in restitution for the purloined goods.
Despite his guilty plea, Richter maintains his innocence, expression he pleaded guilty to the crime charges because it was "easier to be done with it," and he had "too more stuff going on in my life."
What’s Next for Scott Richter?
The 5-year-old OptInRealBig.com, which employed 25 folk last year and had 350 clients, wish continue to operate under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Piece the bankruptcy filing shows the power of legislation and legal action from parties with a unconditional
interest in stopping spam, Richter is not likely to fade quietly into the sunset. Under Chapter 11 bankruptcy laws, the institution must follow a court-supervised “debt rehabilitation” plan to pay off creditors, but is not required to modify its business practices. None of OptInRealBig’s assets wish be liquidated, meaning the company’s stable of spam cannons wish remain active. The bottom line: Scott Richter wish not be required to finish causing UCE in the immediate future, unfinished
in progress judicial proceeding intended to determine exactly what spam is in legal terms. In the meantime, the better defense against spam is a comprehensive entrance resolution that wish guard against all manner of email threats, especially spammers like Scott Richter.
Simply about the author:
Dr. Paul Judge is a noted scholar and entrepreneur. He is Chief Technology Officer at CipherTrust, the industry's largest provider of enterprise email security. The company’s flagship product, IronMail provides a better of breed enterprise opposed spam solution designed to finish spam, phishing attacks and another email-based threats. Discover more by visiting www.ciphertrust.com/products/spam_and_fraud_protection today.
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