Dutch man fined for 9 billion spam e-mails

[Hum]

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - A spammer whom authorities say e-mailed more than 9 billion unwanted advertisements for products like erection pills faces a hefty fine: If he needs headache medication or debt relief there's probably an unsolicited ad in his own inbox.

Dutch authorities have levied a $97,000 fine on an unidentified man for sending "unsolicited electronic messages to consumers to promote erection enhancement pills, pornographic Web sites, sex products and such," the country's telecommunications watchdog said Friday in a statement. It was the largest such fine levied by the watchdog, known by its Dutch acronym OPTA.

OPTA said it considered several factors, including the sheer volume of the messages, saying the 9 billion was a "minimum" estimate. :blink:

"Another aggravating factor was that this person used hundreds of so-called proxies," OPTA said. That's a common spamming technique in which computers of unsuspecting users are commandeered, often using viruses or other malicious software, to conceal the messages' true origins, making them more likely to slip by anti-spam filters.

Authorities say the man earned at least $52,000 from sending the spam in the year before he was caught on Nov. 1, 2005.

The spammer had argued in his defense that he had already stopped sending spam by the time he was caught, "not because he realized that what he was doing was a violation of the law, but because he simply wasn't earning enough money by sending the messages," OPTA said. The Netherlands outlawed spam in May 2004.

OPTA said Microsoft Corp. had helped in its investigation by gathering evidence.

source

[Quillz]

That's a lot of e-mail.

[noroom]

So-called proxies? I think they mean so-called zombies. :p

I hate spammers. They're a really low life-form. =/

[suspiria]

At first look I thought it meant "Dutch man fined 9 billion dollars for spam e-mails."

That would've been just a tad over the excessive side.

[RAINMAN]

not really a big enough fine for the amount of emails.

[phate]

a dollar per email?

Maybe we'll all stop getting emails from MyCanadianPharmacy seling VIhAGRA and CALiIAS and other sh!t

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These are just a few of the ones i've gotten in the past day, I get like 40 a day, every day. its the biggest **** take ever, it makes me suicidal.

[hagjohn]

At first look I thought it meant "Dutch man fined 9 billion dollars for spam e-mails."

That would've been just a tad over the excessive side.

LOL, I was thinking they should flog him first or may be yet, put him in prison with some guys who have taken the viagra that he's been flogging. :whistle:

[JustGeorge]

They should make him ingest a viagra for every email he sent out :) I get so many spam emails telling me to "Pump up my stump!" that I'm starting to feel insecure.....

[Denis W. Veteran]

An appropriate fine would be the cost of all that bandwidth wasted to send out this crap.

First it was just text, then deliberately misspelled text, then text with some random nonsense story inserted into it, then the removal of Re: tags, and then inserting an image... argh.

I sense the next tactic is inserting hidden controls for spyware purposes.

[Hum]

9 billion e-mails ??? 1.5 for every person on Earth. 5 e-mails for everyone who has a computer ?

His fingers must be real tired ! :laugh:

[Pajter]

What did you expect? He's Dutch. v_v

[Quillz]

What did you expect? He's Dutch. v_v

What do you mean by this?

[Mr. Gibs]

Dam 97000usd is too little.....they should sue him 1usd per spam email he sent out.

[I am Reid]

I wonder how many times he e-mailed himself

Dam 97000usd is too little.....they should sue him 1usd per spam email he sent out.

A fine of 5 billion might have been a little too much

im joking

[ThePitt]

Dutch authorities have levied a $97,000 fine

Authorities say the man earned at least $52,000

1st at all, Thank God for that place called Europe. I think the americans expect something like castration and amputation of his right arm. Yea, they like to be strong with ppl like this.

2nd, $52,000 for 9 billions mails?. Give me a break. He can earn more with the minimal wage.

[Pajter]

What do you mean by this?

Nothing actually.. I'm Dutch myself so, just a lame joke. :p