Big spammer gives up (and USB ukulele)

Spammer gives Microsoft $7m, and promises to give us a break. Scott Richter to pay up and stop spamming. Here's what bloggers are saying...

Kevin Murphy is no fan of the US anti-spam law, but admits:

You have to hand it to Microsoft. They may have lobbied heavily for the CAN-SPAM Act to be as [excremental] as possible, but they've been wielding it pretty effectively to take out spammers all over the shop ever since it was enacted ... He's making $800k a month on $4.7m revenues, so the $7m will not take too long to recoup.

GMSV jokes, Will you take $7 milllion worth of generic C!@lis?

The hammer has finally fallen on "spam king" Scott Richter. But whereas [NY Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's] effort fell embarrassingly short of its goal of forcing Richter to change his business practices, Microsoft's appears to have done just that. In a statement, Richter promised to comply with federal and state spam laws.

Self-confessed "mad Finn" Tero Paananen is jubilant:

Up yours, spammer scum. While it's a fair share less than the $40M or so sought by Microsoft in their suit, this is still a major victory over the parasites. Way to go Microsoft!

Craig Cook taps his nose:

While Richter continues to deny any wrongdoing, we all know that a settlement is essentially an admission of guilt. The man has done significant damage to the Internet and deserves to suffer a million indignities with a red-hot Garden Weasel. But on the whole it seems "Snotty Scotty" has indeed stopped spamming.

Richter's local newspaper dryly reports that Richter and Gates have made nice as part of a deal to curb junk e-mail

The deal settles a lawsuit filed in December 2003 in which Microsoft accused Richter and his Westminster e-mail marketing firm of participating in an illegal spam ring.

But local Sun employee Bruce Geerdesis is more forthcoming:

Scott's a local (Westminster, Colorado). I drive by his restaurant every day on the way to and from work. It bugs me. Kudos to Microsoft and New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer for going after this guy.

Microsoftie Tom Leung seems weary of folks disliking his employer:

I think most will agree using the resources of MSFT [to] crush spammers is a good thing. I wouldn't be surprised if some haters will find fault though.

In related news, Brian McWilliams reports that AOL is running another sweepstakes for spammer booty.

America Online is giving away a pile of booty it seized from spam king Brad Bournival, including $20,000 in gold bars, a 2003 Hummer H2 and $75,000 in cash. Bournival bought the yellow Hummer in 2003 with the profits he made selling penis enlargement pills. Both he and partner Davis Hawke were fond of gold; Hawke preferred to bury his in the woods. While Bournival settled the March 2004 lawsuit from AOL earlier this year, Hawke is still on the lam, facing a $12M judgment.

Flikr user "kchrist" points out that Richter attended last year's INBOX East conference. Darn, I was there too and didn't notice him. The slaphead.

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And finally... Unbelievable: USB Ukulele

Richi Jennings is an independent technology and marketing consultant, specializing in email, blogging, Linux, and computer security. A 20 year, cross-functional IT veteran, he is also an analyst at Ferris Research. Contact Richi at blogwatch@richi.co.uk.