Porn Spammers Get Prison Time
About the only creature lower on the totem pole than the nefarious telemarketer is the spammer. With these creeps, you can't even take solace in the fact that they're only doing their job, which is why it fills us with a sick sense of giddiness every time one of these obnoxious mass-e-mailers gets tossed in the clink.
The latest bozos to get nailed for filling our In-boxes with junk e-mail are Jeffrey A. Kilbride, 41, of Venice, California, and James R. Schaffer, 41, of Paradise Valley, Arizona, who should be spending roughly the next five years for e-mailing graphic porn images advertising hard-core sex sites. Anyone who received the e-mail was able to view them.
Kilbride was sentenced to 72 months behind bars, while Schaffer will be spending the next 63 alongside him. The difference in sentences is due to Kilbride being charged with obstruction of justice for trying to prevent a witness from testifying against the duo. Otherwise both men were charged with sending spam messages with forged headers and domain names, conspiracy, fraud, money laundering, and obscenity -- all under the Can-Spam Act.
In addition to their jail sentences, Kilbride and Schaffer were fined $100,000 and ordered to pay $77,500 to AOL (Switched.com's parent company). They also had to cough up $1.1 million in illegal proceeds.
Anything that prevents more spam from coming to our In-box is a-okay with us.
How about you? Do you think these guys got what they deserved, or is the sentence too harsh? Let us know.
From Information Week
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
gavaz7 @ Oct 16th 2007 11:12AM
I was going from my AOL home page to Disney-on-line for my 6 year old daughter and a whole screen of porno came up instead of Disney--
these sentences are light compared to what I would give them.
poundaproblem @ Oct 16th 2007 11:25AM
Good for them! That spam sh!t is fu*king annoying! Maybe this can set an example to the other scumbags out there. People forget that a lot of this junk is viewed by children. Although it is the parents responsibility to monitor what their children do, there still needs to be a penalty for peddling smut via email.
Claude Chabana @ Oct 16th 2007 11:32AM
I don't bother with spams. I automatically delete anything that is not from my friends or a reply to my email.
Claudius
JP @ Oct 16th 2007 11:57AM
gavaz7, and I'm so sure it wasn't due to your internet whore dogging.
Everyone should realize that the majority of time that spam is on someone's computer is due to them visiting sites that they shouldn't be going to in the first place, hahahaha!
Wheelz @ Oct 16th 2007 12:10PM
"Good for them! That spam sh!t is fu*king annoying! Maybe this can set an example to the other scumbags out there. People forget that a lot of this junk is viewed by children. Although it is the parents responsibility to monitor what their children do, there still needs to be a penalty for peddling smut via email."
Kids can also read the comments section for this story. You have expletives in your response, should we arrest you also?
charlie @ Oct 16th 2007 12:11PM
These guys are bottom feeders. I hope this sends a message to all spammers.
riddle3957 @ Oct 16th 2007 12:11PM
gavaz7 it sounds like spyware to me from visiting porno sites like the one that popped up
gccxanax @ Oct 16th 2007 12:11PM
If they could only stop the junk mail in my US Post Office box I would be very very happy. This is a good start to stopping the frustration of spam filling up our e-mail inboxs.
jcasperson @ Oct 16th 2007 12:12PM
ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!5 AND 6 YEARS IN A FEDERAL PRISON FOR SENDING OUT E-MAILS???? WERE THEY SCAMMING PEOPLE OUT OF MONEY LIKE THE STOCKBROKERS? WERE THEY DESTROYING LIVE'S BY DENYING HEALTH CARE TO POOR PEOPLE? THIS COUNTRY IS HAS BEEN RUINED BEYOND REPAIR. WHAT'S NEXT? 36 MONTHS FOR HAVING UNDER 18 YEARS OLDS ON MYSPACE? YES, IT'S COMING...24 MONTHS FOR THE PAPERBOY BECAUSE HE MISSED THE PORCH? EASE UP PEOPLE, YOU MAY BE NEXT.....
smart @ Oct 16th 2007 12:16PM
Not only is this A vary wrong thing for them to do, I don't want to see this stuff .I set my blocker on high and it is still there. IF I wanted to see this crap --and I don't--- I would think you could go to that web site , with what they did YOU don't have that choice---it's THERE for all to see . PLEASE--PLEASE catch all of them ! I for one have had enought .So tell me again why the money went to AOL and not the people like me who have to suffer ? does AOL need more money are they broke or something ? give us the money not them .
Tracy Riggs @ Oct 16th 2007 12:22PM
I wish AOL would go after a site called Horny Matches.com They spam constantly, They just pop up on your computer 50 times a week. Very, very Annoying! I pay to have AOL ...Why are these spammers allowed to pop up and annoy people anyway!
Plasma1010 @ Oct 16th 2007 12:23PM
No, next they send people to Prison for leaving their Caps Lock on
"jcasperson says:
ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!5 AND 6 YEARS IN A FEDERAL PRISON FOR SENDING OUT E-MAILS???? WERE THEY SCAMMING PEOPLE OUT OF MONEY LIKE THE STOCKBROKERS? WERE THEY DESTROYING LIVE'S BY DENYING HEALTH CARE TO POOR PEOPLE? THIS COUNTRY IS HAS BEEN RUINED BEYOND REPAIR. WHAT'S NEXT? 36 MONTHS FOR HAVING UNDER 18 YEARS OLDS ON MYSPACE? YES, IT'S COMING...24 MONTHS FOR THE PAPERBOY BECAUSE HE MISSED THE PORCH? EASE UP PEOPLE, YOU MAY BE NEXT....."
FYI @ Oct 16th 2007 12:24PM
Guys, First let me agree that anyone who sends PORN SPAM is scum. But we seem to be lumping all of our problems into SPAM. What the other Users are talking about runs from SPAM to MALWARE to DOMAIN Squatting. To combat the problems we need to be informed of the differences, because each one takes a different approach to block. As they say knowledge is POWER.
K @ Oct 16th 2007 12:46PM
Start chopping their hands off and you'll see a dramatic drop in spammers . Even better idea for hackers .
joeschmalfungus @ Oct 16th 2007 12:55PM
JP's comment that spammers only get our addresses when we visit sites is very ignorant. I get between 200-300 spam messages a day. Mainly because I have had the same email address for over 10 years and through those years, the automated delivery systems that spammers use have not received bounce messages indicating that my email address is illegitimate. They run a list of names@domain.com and see what gets through...plus other stuff. Also, check out my BCS ranking adjustment blog for college football fans at adjustedbcs.blogspot.com
Ed @ Oct 16th 2007 12:55PM
I agree with you smart. This is rediculous. I hate spam just like the next man but DAMN! They sent someone to PRISON for 5 and 6 YEARS for it?! There are people who have done less time for MURDER! So what if the pictures in the e-mails they sent out were pornographic? Is it worth taking 5 or 6 years of someones life because of it? I think not. Sentences for these types of things should range between 6 months to a year and should never go beyond that. We are becoming a society who will lay the hammer down immediately on spammers but will dilly dally and beat around the bush when going after people for much, much more serious crimes. What a bass ackwards society this is.
Linda @ Oct 16th 2007 1:01PM
It seems like this is the only way to stop people from spamming since fines don't send a strong enough message. I only hope it works.
RA @ Oct 16th 2007 1:03PM
Five years. Yup. Meanwhile there's judges who gives community service for child molesters. Oh, yeah, this country makes a whole lot of sense.
joeschmalfungus @ Oct 16th 2007 1:05PM
Ed, if someone stole $100,000 from you, how long should they go to jail? Now, question: Whose bandwidth do spammers use? Is bandwidth free? Does spam steal from employers due to lost productivity? Major spammers steal far more than $100,000. Think before you bloviate man! Also, check out my BCS ranking adjustment blog for college football fans at adjustedbcs.blogspot.com
Tom @ Oct 16th 2007 1:15PM
whether or not the sentences are harsh (and i believe they are) is fodder for 'religious' debate. however, a fact is the cost to taxpayers of keeping these guys locked up far exceeds the value of the 'license plates' they'll pound out while in jail. they should be fined and they should do time, but let the time fit the crime, or let the 'lock-em-away-for-life' crowd foot the bill for their extended incarceration.