Free Republic

BURNSVILLE, MINNEAPOLIS: Chris-topher Smith’s neighbours didn’t know exactly what he did for a living. But they knew well that he liked to collect expensive cars and set off fireworks at all hours. At an age when most of his peers could barely afford a new car, Smith was amassing a collection that would include BMWs, a Ferrari, a Jaguar. When other 20-somethings were trying to save for down payments on modest starter homes, Smith paid $1.1 million for a house in a more affluent suburb. Smith got all that through his successes in massive unsolicited e-mail marketing, authorities say. The...

[Technology News]: Spam fighters are cheering from the sidelines a recent US court decision that dovetails with their technological efforts to turn the tidal wave of spam that threatens to drown the world's computer networks. Jeremy Jaynes was found guilty last November by a state court in Leesburg, Virginia, of sending more than 10 million unsolicited emails a day. He was hawking pornography, work-at-home schemes and stock-picking software. The spams are estimated to have earned him about $750,000 a month. He is now on $1 million bail, forbidden from using the internet and will be sentenced this month. The jury...

CHICAGO, Aug. 25 (UPI) -- Russian underworld figures and Nigerian e-mail scam artists are no longer responsible for most of the spam arriving in U.S. e-mail inboxes. The latest research indicates most spam on the Internet in the United States is now generated domestically -- not overseas. "American spammers are the driving force," Phyllis Schneck, vice president of CipherTrust Inc., an Internet security firm in Atlanta, told United Press International. Experts say that is not just an interesting tidbit. It is explosive information, because it means legislation passed by Congress last year to curtail spam has not worked, and many...

Outdoing most analysts' worst predictions, spam accounted for 82 percent of all U.S. email last month. After a two-month drop in spam, the number of unsolicited bulk email skyrocketed in April, bringing the saturation number up to record levels here in the U.S. and across the world, according to MessageLabs, Inc., a security company based in New York. ''This is as bad as we've seen it,'' says Paul Wood, chief information security analyst for MessageLabs. ''I think it's likely that it will continue to rise but perhaps not at the same rate that it did in the past month.'' And...

This is an email I recieved. Since it pertains to public policy of the FTC hearings concerning CAN-SPAM / "Suppression" Lists, I am posting this on the FR forum, - for your info and commments. This is of primary interest to those who use the Internet for their home businesses and network marketing. AND, it is a matter of having the CAN-SPAM legislation properly implemented, - but also, that it not be unnecessarily excessive. To the point & to respond to the FTC, go here: Your Immediate Action Is Required We need you to immediately respond to the FTC concerning...

WASHINGTON - Leading Internet companies, in an unusual joint effort among corporate rivals, announced six lawsuits Wednesday against hundreds of people accused of sending millions of unwanted e-mails in violation of the new federal law against "spam." The legal actions by Microsoft Corp., America Online Inc., Earthlink Inc. and Yahoo! Inc (NasdaqNM:YHOO - news)., represent the first major industry actions under the "can spam" legislation that went into effect Jan. 1. The suits were filed in federal courts in California, Georgia, Virginia and Washington state. Dozens of those named were identified only as "John Doe" defendants accused of e-mailing unwanted...

<p>The nation's first anti-spam law took effect Thursday, but that doesn't mean e-mail boxes throughout the nation will be free of offers for "herbal Viagra" or travel bargains today.</p> <p>Far from being pushed out of business, several Bay Area e-mail marketing firms said they expect to prosper under the new law, known as the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003.</p>