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May 15, 2010 | Author admin

Busted: Anti Spam Forces bankruptcy Super-Spammer Scott Richter

Microsoft scores one for the good of Scott Richter, the self-proclaimed "Spam King" no can get enough attention. Admittedly responsible for sending billions of unsolicited commercial emails (UCE), Richter made headlines recently when fed cash cow spam, OptInRealBig.com, filed for bankruptcy protection in a U.S. federal court in their country of origin of Colorado. By Richter's father (who is also his lawyer): "It's legal fees are now equal. OptIn is profitable but for these lawsuits."

In the time of its bankruptcy, said OptInRealBig.com assets less than $ 10 million and liabilities over $ 50 million. Richter said his company made 15 million dollars years sending more than 15 million emails per day. However, in 2003, was dealt a powerful blow OptInRealBig 2.1 of Microsoft and Eliot Spitzer, attorney general of New York, both prosecuted under the state anti-spam laws Richter local laws. Although the New York case was settled out of new court on Last year, Richter had no chance against Microsoft, whose claims raise 19 million euros.

A case of global amnesia? Richter company and other similar products on the market ranging from diet pills pornography. He was also accused of using spam to extract personal information from recipients confident. For example, a presumed hatched by Richter and his associates promised recipients a copy of one of the Girls Gone Wild "DVD if the recipient registered in a Web site. The registration information was used to bombard the recipients with the growing spam.

Richter contends that his methods are all people legal, and that's just an ordinary guy trying to do the right thing for the world, went so far as to say that is a "victim" of corporate excess -zealous anti-spam and lawyers. "We do not spam," Richter said in a 2004 PC World interview in August. "The biggest problem is when people get an email who think they have enrolled in or do not remember signing for, and call it spam. "

To listen to Richter say, tens of millions of people simply forgot that he had requested to receive messages. According to the state of New York, however, he falsified the header information and used routing misleading and domain purchase practices to get their messages across. The lawsuit also accused Richter of using a network of about 500 "zombie" computers to send messages. When asked how many people would have subscribed to me Remember not to do so, Richter claimed the entries must have been for anonymous "partners of our partner web sites, whose name has slipped mind.

Not just an online threat, obviously, not content with stealing bandwidth, Richter also shows a penchant for heavy machinery. In the case of no relation to 2003, was put on probation after pleading guilty to a crime of receiving stolen property worth more than $ 10,000. According to court records, the informant to give a hint about a stolen Bobcat loader drove the undercover officers to Richter. In the past 13 months, officials have begun to conclude agreements with it for a Honda generator, hundreds of boxes of cigarettes, three laptop computers and other items, all offered at suspiciously low prices and bought some of the lowland areas of Denver. In addition to probation, was sentenced Richter $ 38,000 to pay for the restitution of stolen goods.

Despite his guilty plea, Richter maintains his innocence, saying he was declared guilty to criminal charges because it was "easier to do with it" and had "too many things happening in my life."

What Scott Richter comes after? The 5-year OptInRealBig.com, which employs 25 people last year and had 350 clients, continue to operate under the protection of Chapter 11 bankruptcy. While bankruptcy is the power of legislation and legal actions of the parties with an interest in Stop spam, Richter is not likely to disappear quietly into the sunset. Under Chapter 11 bankruptcy laws, the company must comply with a supervision "debt rehabilitation extrajudicial" plan to pay creditors, but it is not necessary to change its business practices. No OptInRealBig assets will be liquidated, ie the company stable of guns spam will remain active. The bottom line: Scott Richter is not necessary to stop sending unsolicited in the immediate future, pending ongoing litigation aimed at identifying exactly what spam is in legal terms. In the meantime, the best defense against spam is a complete solution for the bridge to protect against all threats e-mail, especially the spammers, because Scott Richter.

About the Author

Dr. Paul Judge is Chief Technology Officer at CipherTrust, the
industry’s largest provider of enterprise email security. The
company’s flagship product, IronMail provides a best of breed e
nterprise anti spam solution designed to stop spam, phishing
attacks and other email-based threats. Learn more by visiting
www.ciphertrust.com today.