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Proud, Bragging Spammer Alan Ralsky Pleads Guilty
from the about-time dept
Remember Alan Ralsky? He was the super proud spammer that way back in 2002 gave a defiant and proud interview with his hometown paper, the Detroit Free Press, where he showed off his home and other expensive purchases, all paid for with spam -- which he insisted was "the greatest business model in the world." So what happened? Well, the folks at Slashdot used the info in the article to figure out where he lived and started signing him up for a ton of snail mail marketing offers, overwhelming his actual mailbox. Rather than recognizing the irony, Ralsky flipped out. Apparently, it's only the greatest business model in the world when you're not on the receiving end.
It definitely took a while, but the law finally caught up to Ralsky, and he learned that "the greatest business model in the world" is actually called fraud -- and it can put you in jail. The FBI started investigating Ralsky in 2005, but he wasn't actually indicted until 2008. And, the latest news is that he's agreed to plead guilty and could face both jailtime and fines for wire fraud, money laundering and violations of the CAN SPAM Act (wow, it does sometimes work!). Of course, since Ralsky's time, spammers have gone underground and overseas. The era of the great proud American spammer who courted the press seems to be over.
