'Buffalo Spammer' Sentenced to Prison

[Fluffybunny]

This is such good news. If I get one more add for Viagra or breast enlargement pills I am going to explode.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A New York state man who sent out millions of "spam" e-mails was sentenced to 3-1/2 to seven years in prison, the state attorney general's office said on Thursday.

Howard Carmack, known as the "Buffalo Spammer," received the maximum sentence for 14 counts of identity theft and forgery, a spokesman for New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said.

Carmack sent out hundreds of millions of bulk e-mail messages, flooding inboxes and saddling Internet providers with millions of dollars in costs. But it was his use of stolen identities and forged addresses that caused him to run afoul of state prosecutors.

New York has no state laws specifically dealing with spam, according to the Web site Spamlaws.com, and a national anti-spam law was not yet in place when Carmack was arrested a year ago.

He was found guilty of violating state forgery and identity-theft laws in April.

The forgery conviction fetched the longest sentence, while the other convictions drew shorter sentences of one year to four years. All will be served concurrently, Spitzer spokesman Brad Maione said.

Carmack could be out in 3-1/2 years should he behave in prison, Maione said.

Internet provider EarthLink Inc (Nasdaq:ELNK - news). won a $16.5 million judgment against Carmack last year, and EarthLink officials testified in the criminal trial as well.

Carmack set up more than 300 false e-mail accounts to send 825 million e-mails, starting in March 2002, EarthLink said in its lawsuit.

"We're satisfied that today's sentencing sends a strong message to spammers, and EarthLink will continue to investigate spammers and work with law enforcement," said EarthLink assistant general counsel Karen Cashion in a statement.

Since Carmack's arrest, EarthLink and other large Internet providers like America Online (NYSE:TWX - news). have cooperated with state authorities to track down rogue marketers who flood their networks with billions of unwanted e-mails.

Internet providers have also invoked a variety of state and national laws to sue hundreds of spammers on their own.

Unwanted bulk messages now account for roughly 83 percent of e-mail traffic, according to filtering company Postini Inc.

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[Guest Lottie]

Hip Hip Hooray!!!

[Chauncy]

I feel safer now that this ones mounted

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Edited May 30, 2004 by Chauncy

[imorningsun]

Great photo, is it yours? Any way, buffalo and spam in the same sentence makes me nausiated! I remember reading about some kind of fraudulant perscription sales. These people were offering discount scripts and trying to cash checks and recieve moneys without delivering the goods. Lucky for all that fell prey this person didn't pack up and leave town before they were caught. It is a shame that some people will find anyway they can to ripp some one off! I am glad that buffalo spam man was caught. I hope he and the script rip will show as an example to all other scum polluting our mailboxes!

[Chauncy]

Great photo, is it yours?

Nope, I wouldn't do that to a buffalo. A buffalo spammer though, spamming me and stealling my identity, well now thats just asking for a wall mounting wouldn't you say.

[MrScuzzles]

With the name Carmack, he really should be screwing around with computers. If I had the last name Carmack, I would stay about 25 ft. away from computers at all times and I especially wouldn't perform any illegal activities on them.