Peter Moshou, also known as the “Timeshare Spammer”, was one of
the first to face criminal prosecution under the anti-spam
legislation, according to ISP Earthlink.
Moshou, from Florida, was originally sued in the civil courts by
Earthlink, which accused him of violating the CAN-SPAM Act by,
among other charges, falsifying the "from" field in email addresses
(spoofing), using deceptive subject lines, failing to identify the
sender and failing to provide an electronic unsubscribe option.
Earthlink helped in providing evidence to prosecutors in the
criminal action – to which Moshou pleaded guilty in June.
He has now been sentenced to one year in prison, and ordered to
pay $120,000 in restitution.
Earthlink has also seen recent success in another CAN-SPAM suit;
winning $15.4 million in damages from Miami-based spammer Craig
Brockwell and his firm BC Alliance Inc late last month. US District
Court Judge Beverly B Martin also granted an injunction against the
defendants.
Brockwell and his company had been accused of sending hundreds
of thousands of unsolicited emails advertising discount ink jet
printer cartridges and other printer supplies.
“Obtaining a judgment against an individual like Brockwell and
working with law enforcement to provide evidence in criminal
prosecutions benefits all internet users. Both of these cases
represent more examples of how civil litigation and legal action
can put spammers out of business," said Larry Slovensky, assistant
general counsel for EarthLink.
Background
The CAN-SPAM Act, which came into force on 1st January 2004,
established a framework of administrative, civil, and criminal
tools to tackle unsolicited commercial email.
It provides for a national Do-Not-Spam list; requires that spam
sent to consumers includes a means of opting-out of the mailing
list used by the sender; bans the sending of fraudulent emails or
unmarked sexually oriented emails, and provides for civil and
criminal sanctions for those spammers who breach the rules.
The penalties may amount to fines of $6 million and five years
in prison in the most severe cases.
