Free Republic

One of the world's most notorious spammers has settled lawsuits with the state of Texas and Microsoft Corp that cost him at least $1 million, took away most of his assets and forced him to stop sending the nuisance e-mails. Ryan Pitylak, 24, who graduated from the University of Texas last month, has admitted sending 25 million e-mails every day at the height of his spamming operation in 2004. At one time, Pitylak was listed as the fourth-worst spammer in the world by the Spamhaus Project, a London-based international clearinghouse that tracks spammers and works closely with law enforcement officials....