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September 23, 2005
Oklahoma court nails spam king
Robert Soloway, ranked one of the top-10 spammers in the world, has been vanquished in a federal court by the operator of a small Oklahoma-based Internet service provider.
Yesterday, U.S.Judge Ralph G. Thompson granted a motion by plaintiff Robert Braver (pictured) for a default judgment and permanent injunction against Soloway. The judgment includes a statutory damages award of $10,075,000 under Oklahoma law.
Here's the math:
1. Soloway violated the Oklahoma Fraudulent Use of Electronic Mail statute. 206 days of spam emails to Braver from Soloway times $25,000 per violation = $5,150,000.
2. Soloway violated the Oklahoma Unsolicited Commercial Electronic Mail statute. 197 days of spam emails to Braver from Soloway times $25,000 per violation = $4,925,000.
Regarding Soloway's violations of the federal CAN-SPAM law, Braver sought and received a permanent injunction barring Soloway from further violations of CAN-SPAM.
After dismissing his lawyer in June so he could represent himself, Soloway apparently failed to make required court appearances or file necessary documents. Hence the default judgment.
Earlier this year, Soloway was roughed up in court by Microsoft. (The software giant was awarded a default judgment in May; I'm not aware of the damages award.)
Shortly after the Microsoft judgment, the combative Soloway launched "Spamis," a spam-based anti-Microsoft campaign. Soloway also sought to retaliate against Braver by soliciting spammers for dirt on Braver.
Posted by brian at September 23, 2005 4:16 PM