Godfather of Spam Slapped with 4-Year Sentence
The self-proclaimed "Godfather of Spam" was sentenced to over four yeas in prison.
The notorious "Godfather of Spam" Alan M. Ralsky was sentenced to more than four years in prison for constructing a scheme that used spam to manipulate stock prices. U.S. District Judge Marianne O. Battani in the Detroit federal court also sentenced Ralsky's three co-conspirators as well for conspiring to commit wire fraud, mail fraud, and violating the CAN-SPAM act.
Macworld adds a little history to yesterday's statement from the U.S. Department of Justice, reporting that Ralsky proclaimed himself as the "Godfather of Spam" and was even sued by Verizon for sending unauthorized bulk e-mail on its networks. While Ralsky and his band of spammers had previous encounters with law enforcement, the latest "pump-and-dump" scheme finally landed them in prison.
The U.S. Department of Justice said that the conspiracy used spam e-mails to manipulate "thinly traded stocks." The four made profits by trading in those stocks once their share prices increased after recipients of the spam e-mails traded in the promoted stocks. The U.S. Department of Justice also said that Ralsky and his gang pushed the spam onto U.S. companies that were owned and controlled in Hong Kong and China.
Ralsky's son-in-law, 48-year-old Soctt Bradley, was one of the three co-conspirators, and received 40 months in prison. The other two, How Wai John Hui and John S. Brown, received 51 months and 32 months respectively.
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four yeas in prison rofl
Manipulating the nation economy: 4 years in prision.
Public Urination: Jail time, sex offenders list, and no privacy after jail time has been served.
More, please!
I think spam creators are in the same line as sexual predators, murderers, and serial killers!
Only four years? And I'll bet he gets computer access in prison too... It's time for a CAN-SPAM Offenders List; it should include thier name, home address, personal email address, and daytime phone number.
Manipulating the nation economy: 4 years in prision.Public Urination: Jail time, sex offenders list, and no privacy after jail time has been served.
Hey man, stop pissing in the street. :-)
That's all?
Manipulating the nation economy: 4 years in prision.Public Urination: Jail time, sex offenders list, and no privacy after jail time has been served.
isn't the criminal system amazing
So it's wrong for this fella to manipulate the economy and make profit, but big corps do it every day and it's ok?
What a joke...
It's wrong for this fella to manipulate the economy, yet for big corps (with possible political involvement) it's ok?
What a joke?
Oops.. first post wasn't so great. Wasn't meant to be asking if it was a joke, it is a joke.
Swift Justice! Now do the same to telemarketers!
I sincerely hate spam, but I'm missing the issue with their approach. They sent out messages to get people to buy something in order to make a profit. How is this different from any other business model?
I question the necessity of the CAN SPAM act.
PS: Buying stock because of a "tip" you get from spam is rather silly.
Pop-up #1: "Hey big boy. Click this button for a great time."
Pop-up #2: "Zomg. Toilet paper stock is skyrocketing. Buy yours now!"
Now I absolutely despise spam just as much as the next person, but I am curious about the law that these men supposedly broke and why it seems a little hypocritical to me.
To say they "manipulated stocks" seems a little to extreme to me. What they did was essentially aggressively advertising a product they owned stock it, which is something that companies do all the time anyways. I could argue that the commercials I see every day are spam. Matter of fact, pick any particular or specific commercial currently airing on TV and I see that many more times a day than I do any particular or specific spam e-mail in my inbox. I am "spammed" by commercials a lot more than I am "spammed" by e-mails, yet that is perfectly legal. Those companies advertising on TV are doing it to sell a product and in turn inflate their company stock prices, essentially the same thing that these men did, regardless of whether they owned the company or not, it is still basically the same thing. But that is legal, and what they did is not. Why?