Free Republic

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain on Thursday became the second country in Europe to criminalize spam, that unwanted barrage of e-mail and mobile phone text messages that promise get-rich-quick schemes, cheap home loans and a better sex life. The unsolicited messages, which industry groups say account for more than half of all e-mails sent, have become the scourge of Internet users everywhere. Under the new UK law, spammers face a 5,000 pound ($8,057) fine if convicted in a magistrates court. The fine from a jury trial would be unlimited. Spammers would not face prison, according to the new law, which was...

Howard Carmack, the notorious 'Buffalo Spammer' accused of sending more than 825 million unsolicited e-mails from illegal EarthLink (Quote, Company Info) accounts, has been arrested and arraigned in New York on four felony and two misdemeanor counts. New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer is holding a conference call today in order to discuss the case and any precedents potentially involved with what could rank as the first major criminal prosecution of a spammer. The arrest is the first state criminal prosecution of a spammer, and the first filed by the Attorney General under New York's recently enacted identity theft statute,...

By Andy Sullivan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Spam must be stopped, lawmakers and Internet experts said on Wednesday, but few agreed how to curb the unwanted junk e-mail they say threatens to overwhelm the Internet's most popular application. On the first day of the Federal Trade Commission's "spam summit," participants could not even agree on what type of online marketing was unacceptable enough to earn the pejorative tag. Marketers said that deceptive messages with misleading subject lines like "Re: your account" were to blame, squeezing out more reputable operators who only send messages to consumers who want to hear from them....

<p>RICHMOND, Virginia (AP) -- Internet mavens who clog computers with massive volumes of unsolicited e-mail pitches now risk landing in prison and losing their riches under a tough Virginia law signed Tuesday.</p> <p>Although about half the states have anti-spam laws, no other allows authorities to seize the assets earned from spamming while imposing up to five years in prison, said Gov. Mark R. Warner.</p>

DULLES, VA - Tuesday, April 29, 2003 - In an important new chapter in the fight against spam, America Online joined with Virginia lawmakers and Internet industry leaders to unveil a much-needed, timely new weapon in the war against spammers: a strengthened state law that allows for the criminal prosecution of spammers with penalties that include jail time, asset forfeiture, and fines. The unveiling of the new state law comes on the eve of the first-ever Federal Trade Commission (FTC) forum on spam, to be held in Washington, D.C. April 30-May 2. The new anti-spam statute (SB 1139/HB 2290) now...

A group of Florida-based porn peddlers, penis enlargement and Viagra spammers has united to file suit against anti-spam organisations. Under the newly-registered name EmarketersAmerica.org, a front set up by notorious spammer Eddy Marin's lawyer Mark E. Felstein, the suit seeks to force prominent anti-spam organisations to stop blocking their spam.... Steve Linford, of The Spamhaus Project, told us the law suit was without merit and purely motivated by an attempt to waste the time and energy of those fighting against the spam menace. "Spammers will try anything. These lawsuits are intended to tie you up in defending it, wasting time...

<p>With the proliferation of such mobile devices as two-way pagers and text-enabled cellular phones also comes the advance in commercial technology that allows advertisers to send unsolicited messages, or spam, straight to wireless gadgets.</p> <p>As the issue gains widespread attention in Europe and Japan, some consumer advocates say it's only a matter of time before U.S. consumers are left with having to delete, block or otherwise deal with wireless spam.</p>

NEW YORK -- Tom Cowles, who heads one of the world's largest bulk e-mail, or spam, businesses, ought to be a happy guy. By his account, his company makes $12 million a year e-mailing billions of advertisements, mainly to folks who don't want them. It's an easy job, the way Cowles and others describe it: You get hired by a client who wants to sell a penile enlarger or an antenna booster. You write a zesty sales pitch. Then, with the help of some cloak-and-dagger software and a massive database of e-mail addresses, you deluge the planet. If one in...

Well, 'the new spoosman' and many like him have told me for months that the 'fiat' currency is worthless, and gold is the only valuable currency out there. Disregarding for a second the fact that these gold bugs are so ready to part with their gold for those 'worthless fiat notes', I would like to point out that since the height of their caterwalling, Jun 01 2002, gold is down from 326$ an ounce to 314$ an ounce today. That is a 4 percent drop in less than a month.The 'fiat currency' people are out to lunch. I don't expect...