Sunday
Microsoft takes on Scott Richter Spam King
Microsoft to be paid 7 million dollars by Scott Richter : Scott Richter, the self-titled “Spam King,” many times before (his losing battle with Eliot Spitzer; the court tussle with SpamCop that was ultimately settled; his ”Spam King” clothing line that got him in trouble with Hormel), and now the Denver Post has published a substantial excerpt from Brian McWilliam’s investigative book, “Spam Kings: The Real Story behind the High-Rolling Hucksters Pushing Porn, Pills, and %*@)# Enlargements.”
His dad was a CPA and tax attorney - but he moved out when Scott was 11, so the King had little fatherly influence from his law-abiding daddy. Instead of going the educated route, Richter started his own business after high school, a vending machine enterprise called RAM Amusement Investments Inc. His mother was corporate secretary. Next he started his own restaurant chain, Great Scott’s Eatery, and a sports bar, in the Denver area.
When he started putting on too many pounds thanks to his junk food kingdom, in 2000 he had the bright idea to lose weight and begin peddling ephedra-based weight loss pills via email. And thus the King was born. Before long he was coming under fire for using “dirty” email lists, and by the end of 2003 Eliot Spitzer was already accusing him of being the third-biggest spammer in the world.
Now that the CAN-SPAM act has been passed, Richter is claiming to be the “Anti-Spam” King, and trumpets his use of “permission-based” email marketing with his new company, OptInRealBig.
Although he's been called the Spam King, been labeled one of the most prolific spammers in the world by Spamhaus's Registry of Known Spam Operations, and been sued for spamming, Scott Richter calls his business electronic marketing. His company, OptInRealBig.com, sends more than 100 million e-mail messages every day. He has been sued by both Microsoft and the New York State Attorney General.
Scott Richter, one-time spam king and now legitimate e-mail marketer, has been now known to reach an out-of-court settlement with. Richter agreed to pay Microsoft $7 million of the $18.8 million in damages it sought nearly two years ago. The settlement still needs court approval before it can be finalized.
Microsoft plans to reinvest $5 million of Richter's payment into its computer-related crimes division to pay for investigative and technical support. The company will also give $1 million to the state of New York to fund computer skills training at community centers.
The last million will go, in large part, to help pay Microsoft's legal fees attached to the Richter case. Richter was not available for comment at press time.
Eliot Spitzer, New York attorney general, sued Richter and five other spam outfits for $20 million in 2003. At the same time, Microsoft filed a suit of its own seeking damages of $18.8 million under the CAN SPAM Act on behalf of its Hotmail users.
At the height of his spamming activities, Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith said Richter was responsible for sending more than 38 million e-mails in a year. The legal victory, he said, will not end spam but make it much harder for spammers to conduct their activities on the scale Richter achieved.
"There is still a long way to go, as legal efforts are being complemented by ongoing technological innovation and consumer education, but this week's announcement is a milestone," Smith said in an open letter. "Thanks to strong enforcement efforts, spam is becoming harder for unlawful characters, and the Internet is becoming safer for all of us."
Richter has spent the past two years trying to bury the "Spam King" moniker he gave to himself years ago and reposition himself as a legitimate online businessman. Where once his company was selling "SpamKing" t-shirts, OptInBig now collects opt-in (define) e-mail addresses and markets them to interested businesses.
His move towards legitimacy has taken some time. Two years ago he was known as the third-largest spammer on the planet. And it was only last month that Scott Richter was taken off the Spamhaus Project's Register Of Known Spam Operations (ROKSO) list of the 200 most egregious spammers in the world.
His dad was a CPA and tax attorney - but he moved out when Scott was 11, so the King had little fatherly influence from his law-abiding daddy. Instead of going the educated route, Richter started his own business after high school, a vending machine enterprise called RAM Amusement Investments Inc. His mother was corporate secretary. Next he started his own restaurant chain, Great Scott’s Eatery, and a sports bar, in the Denver area.
When he started putting on too many pounds thanks to his junk food kingdom, in 2000 he had the bright idea to lose weight and begin peddling ephedra-based weight loss pills via email. And thus the King was born. Before long he was coming under fire for using “dirty” email lists, and by the end of 2003 Eliot Spitzer was already accusing him of being the third-biggest spammer in the world.
Now that the CAN-SPAM act has been passed, Richter is claiming to be the “Anti-Spam” King, and trumpets his use of “permission-based” email marketing with his new company, OptInRealBig.
Although he's been called the Spam King, been labeled one of the most prolific spammers in the world by Spamhaus's Registry of Known Spam Operations, and been sued for spamming, Scott Richter calls his business electronic marketing. His company, OptInRealBig.com, sends more than 100 million e-mail messages every day. He has been sued by both Microsoft and the New York State Attorney General.
Scott Richter, one-time spam king and now legitimate e-mail marketer, has been now known to reach an out-of-court settlement with. Richter agreed to pay Microsoft $7 million of the $18.8 million in damages it sought nearly two years ago. The settlement still needs court approval before it can be finalized.
Microsoft plans to reinvest $5 million of Richter's payment into its computer-related crimes division to pay for investigative and technical support. The company will also give $1 million to the state of New York to fund computer skills training at community centers.
The last million will go, in large part, to help pay Microsoft's legal fees attached to the Richter case. Richter was not available for comment at press time.
Eliot Spitzer, New York attorney general, sued Richter and five other spam outfits for $20 million in 2003. At the same time, Microsoft filed a suit of its own seeking damages of $18.8 million under the CAN SPAM Act on behalf of its Hotmail users.
At the height of his spamming activities, Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith said Richter was responsible for sending more than 38 million e-mails in a year. The legal victory, he said, will not end spam but make it much harder for spammers to conduct their activities on the scale Richter achieved.
"There is still a long way to go, as legal efforts are being complemented by ongoing technological innovation and consumer education, but this week's announcement is a milestone," Smith said in an open letter. "Thanks to strong enforcement efforts, spam is becoming harder for unlawful characters, and the Internet is becoming safer for all of us."
Richter has spent the past two years trying to bury the "Spam King" moniker he gave to himself years ago and reposition himself as a legitimate online businessman. Where once his company was selling "SpamKing" t-shirts, OptInBig now collects opt-in (define) e-mail addresses and markets them to interested businesses.
His move towards legitimacy has taken some time. Two years ago he was known as the third-largest spammer on the planet. And it was only last month that Scott Richter was taken off the Spamhaus Project's Register Of Known Spam Operations (ROKSO) list of the 200 most egregious spammers in the world.
