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*** Feds Indict Seattle Man Accused Of Spamming ***

Seattle, Washington -- 05/30/2007
A 27-year-old Seattle man pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to charges
related to an extensive spamming operation, the U.S. Attorney's Office
in Seattle said.

Robert Soloway faces 35 federal charges, including mail fraud, wire fraud,
fraud in connection with electronic mail, aggravated identity theft and
money laundering. He was ordered held until a bail hearing on Monday.

Prosecutors said he used networks of compromised computers
to send fraudulent mail to tens of millions of people.

Soloway is accused of sending unwanted e-mail messages directing
recipients to the Web site for his company, Newport Internet Marketing
Corporation, which made a number of false and fraudulent claims about
the products and services, authorities said.

"Spam is a scourge of the Internet, and Robert Soloway is one of its
most prolific practitioners," said Jeffrey C. Sullivan, U.S. attorney for
the Western District of Washington. "Our investigators dubbed him the
'Spam King' because he is responsible for millions of spam e-mails."

Federal authorities said he also sold the
information to others about how to send spam.

Microsoft officials said Soloway is one
of the world's top 10 spammers.

Microsoft sued Soloway in 2003 and won a
$7.8 million verdict, but they said he did not pay.
____________________________________________________________

*** Man Described As A Top Spammer Arrested ***

Seattle, Washington -- 05/30/2007
A 27-year-old man described as one of the world's most prolific
spammers was arrested Wednesday, and federal authorities said
computer users across the Web could notice a decrease in the
amount of junk e-mail.

Robert Alan Soloway is accused of using networks of compromised
"zombie" computers to send out millions upon millions of spam e-mails.

"He's one of the top 10 spammers in the world," said Tim Cranton,
a Microsoft Corp. lawyer who is senior director of the company's
Worldwide Internet Safety Programs. "He's a huge problem for our
customers. This is a very good day."

A federal grand jury last week returned a 35-count indictment
against Soloway charging him with mail fraud, wire fraud, e-mail
fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering.

Soloway pleaded not guilty Wednesday afternoon to all charges after
a judge determined that — even with four bank accounts seized by the
government — he was sufficiently well off to pay for his own lawyer.

He has been living in a ritzy apartment and drives an expensive
Mercedes convertible, said prosecutor Kathryn Warma. Prosecutors
are seeking to have him forfeit $773,000 they say he made from his
business, Newport Internet Marketing Corp.

A public defender who represented him for
Wednesday's hearing declined to comment.

Prosecutors say Soloway used computers infected with malicious code
to send out millions of junk e-mails since 2003. The computers are called
"zombies" because owners typically have no idea their machines have
been infected.

He continued his activities even after Microsoft won a $7 million civil
judgment against him in 2005 and the operator of a small Internet
service provider in Oklahoma won a $10 million judgment, prosecutors
said.

U.S. Attorney Jeff Sullivan said Wednesday that the case is the first in
the country in which federal prosecutors have used identity theft statutes
to prosecute a spammer for taking over someone else's Internet domain
name. Soloway could face decades in prison, though prosecutors said
they have not calculated what guideline sentencing range he might face.

The investigation began when the authorities began receiving hundreds
of complaints about Soloway, who had been featured on a list of known
spammers kept by The Spamhaus Project, an international anti-spam
organization.

The Santa Barbara County, Calif., Department of Social Services said
it was spending $1,000 a week to fight the spam it was receiving, and
other businesses and individuals complained of having their reputations
damaged when it appeared spam was originating from their computers.

"This is not just a nuisance. This is way beyond a nuisance,"
Warma said.

Soloway used the networks of compromised computers to send out
unsolicited bulk e-mails urging people to use his Internet marketing
company to advertise their products, authorities said.

People who clicked on a link in the e-mail were directed to his Web site.
There, Soloway advertised his ability to send out as many as 20 million
e-mail advertisements over 15 days for $495, the indictment said.

The Spamhaus Project rejoiced at his arrest.

"Soloway has been a long-term nuisance on the Internet — both in terms
of the spam he sent, and the people he duped to use his spam service,"
organizers wrote on Spamhaus.org.

Soloway remained in federal detention pending a hearing Monday.
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*** Spam Flows Despite High-Profile Arrest ***

New York, NY -- 05/31/2007
Junk e-mail continued to land in mailboxes around the world Thursday,
despite the arrest a day earlier of a man described as one of the world's
most prolific spammers.

Even if Robert Alan Soloway is ultimately convicted and his operations
shuttered, spam experts say dozens are in line to fill the void.

"In the short term, the effect it's going to have is more symbolic more
than anything else," said John Levine, co-author of "Fighting Spam for
Dummies." "Soloway is a large spammer, but hardly the only large
spammer."

Levine said Soloway was a good target because he operates in
the United States and has taken few steps to cover his tracks.

Soloway, 27, was once on a top 10 list of spammers kept by The
Spamhaus Project, an international anti-spam organization. Others
have since topped him, mostly based in Russia and other countries
out of reach of U.S. or European law.

But Soloway remains on a Spamhaus list of about 135 spammers
deemed responsible for as much as 80 percent of all junk e-mail,
and one Spamhaus official considers him in the top 20.

"Most of the Russian gangs seem to have a lot more freshly hijacked
computers and are able to deliver much more spam into people's
inboxes," said Vincent Hanna, a European investigator for Spamhaus.
"The stuff that Robert Soloway had under this control, let's call it `second
grade.'"

Soloway was arrested Wednesday on charges of mail fraud, wire
fraud, e-mail fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering.

Prosecutors say Soloway has sent millions of junk e-mails since 2003
and continued even after Microsoft Corp. won a $7 million civil judgment
against him in 2005 and the operator of a small Internet service provider
in Oklahoma won a $10 million judgment.

Soloway could face decades in prison, though prosecutors said
they have not calculated what sentence range he might face.

Like most spammers these days, authorities say, Soloway sent out
unsolicited bulk e-mails using networks of compromised computers
called "zombies." These are generally home computers whose owners
typically have no idea that their machines have been infected with
viruses or other malicious programs; service providers can't easily
block messages from zombies because they are mixed in with legitimate
messages.

What set Soloway apart was his focus on spam designed to sell tools and
services for companies and organizations to send their own junk e-mail,
said Patrick Peterson, vice president of technology at anti-spam vendor
IronPort Systems Inc.

Other types of spam were largely unaffected by the arrest. One Gmail
account collected messages Thursday promising deals on Viagra and
other medicines, while an AOL account drew an offer for two large,
mouthwatering pizzas.

IronPort said it saw no notable drop in spam volume, with 70 billion
messages in a 24-hour period, unchanged from two weeks earlier.
The company said spam has doubled from about 36 billion a day last May.

Anne Mitchell, who runs the anti-spam consultancy Institute for Spam
and Internet Public Policy, said an individual user who happens to be on
Soloway's list might see a big drop, but the collective impact is negligible.

"It's not that different from the mafia," she said. "Many times the feds
grab a high-ranking don but the mafia didn't go away. Someone's going
to step up and fill his void."

Nonetheless, anti-spam experts lauded the arrest, calling it
an encouraging sign that authorities are taking spam seriously.

Compared with civil lawsuits that have led to multimillion
dollar judgments, prosecutions have been rare.

"Criminal prosecutions are absolutely necessary," said Richi Jennings,
lead analyst for e-mail security with Ferris Research. "It adds a whole
new level of fear to the lives of these spammers."

Joseph Smith, 43, a Web designer in Greensboro, N.C., said he couldn't
say for sure the arrest resulted in a decrease in spam Thursday, but he
was hopeful.

"I can see the Net becoming a little more secure now
and becoming a more enjoyable experience," he said.

Microsoft spokesman Lou Gellos said the arrest not only removes
Soloway from spamming "but it throws caution to others that are
doing it as well. There's hope that this causes a ripple, if not a wave."

At Wednesday's news conference in Seattle announcing the arrest, U.S.
Attorney Jeff Sullivan acknowledged that "others sometimes take their
place, but we want it to be a deterrent."
_________________
Geneb...Wenatchee,Washington-USA
All Things Northwest in BMX!
***** Gene`s BMX *****
http://www.genesbmx.com