Earthlink, a US ISP, was yesterday awarded $16.4 million in damages
and a permanent injunction against a Buffalo spam ring accused of
sending more than 825 million illegal e-mails since March 2002.
Earthlink took action against the ring and its leader, Howard
Carmack, known as the “Buffalo Spammer”. The complaint alleged that
the group had used stolen credit cards, identity theft, banking
fraud and other illegal activities to fraudulently purchase
internet accounts and send out unsolicited commercial e-mail – i.e.
spam.
In a statement Pete Wellborn, Earthlink’s lawyer, said, “Spam is
the bane of the internet. By taking legal measures to shut down a
spammer like Carmack, EarthLink can help preserve the internet
experience for all consumers, not just EarthLink subscribers.”
Carmack was not at the hearing, and had no comment to make.
In 1997, EarthLink obtained an injunction against Sanford
Wallace, the most prolific spammer of his time, followed by a $2
million judgment against Wallace's company, Cyber Promotions, in
1998.
Last year, in what is believed to be the one of the largest
victories against a spammer, EarthLink received a $25 million
judgment against K.C. Smith, shutting down an operation that had
generated more than one billion unwanted e-mails on the
internet.
Action against spammers is a growing trend amongst ISPs and the
larger tech companies. Last week, AOL, Microsoft and Yahoo! joined
forces to fight the menace, while the FTC hosted a high profile
conference on the issue.
