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Scatter
November 13, 2009 4:34 PM
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Does anyone in our justice dept really believe that this individual will be able to pay off the 1 BILLION dollars in fines that he's received? Is there really any point in fining him at this point?

So how does a person like this who has a history of this and obviously isn't afraid of fines avoid jail?

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6 replies
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yungjerry703
November 13, 2009 4:34 PM
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@Scatter: there used to be a site called 3dollardvd or something like that. the guy running it was the recipient of a hefty trust fund from his grandfather who owned the type of bank that deliver you a cool million cash if you so choose (the bushes keep their money there). after serving a bit of time in china they extradited him back to the US and one of the people in charge of the case was quoted saying \"this is the first time a copy write violator well be able to pay the millions back that he owes\"

so yea that almost never happens. just a fun fact.

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yesteraeon
November 13, 2009 4:34 PM
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@Scatter: This isn't a fine and has nothing to do with the Justice Dept. It's an award in a civil case brought by facebook against Mr. Wallace.

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AppleAlex
November 13, 2009 4:34 PM
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@Scatter: Do people ever pay fines?

look at those movie warnings that claim 5 years in jail and 25K for copyright infringement. of course the person gets locked up but do they really pay?

unless this spammer is close friends with Bill Gates or another of the worlds Billionaires MySpace and Facebook won't be getting their money

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synimatik
November 13, 2009 4:34 PM
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@Scatter: While I'm not a lawyer, I am of the understanding that if someone has a judgment against them like this, it makes it difficult if not impossible to make a normal life for yourself. I would assume it would put a lien on his property of any kind and make it difficult to have a normal financial life. No?

I know there are lawyers that read this, so can one of you add to this? Without yelling at me for having a thought about something that I'm not an expert in the field of?

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mythago
November 13, 2009 4:34 PM
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@synimatik: I'll yell at you for the passive-aggressive last sentence there if that's OK.

That aside, yep, having judgments makes it very hard to own property or earn money through a paycheck. And if you don't make any effort to repay those judgments when you are able to, then you can be found in contempt in certain circumstances.

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Sheogorath
November 13, 2009 4:34 PM
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@mythago:
Sounds like a good reason to skip the country to me. Time to head to Russia. Or maybe China. They both have good markets for professional spammers.

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mizmoose
November 13, 2009 4:34 PM
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Good old Spamford Wallace. I thought they'd long since thrown him in the subbasement of an unused jail and thrown the key into the ocean.

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3 replies
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Trick
November 13, 2009 4:34 PM
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@mizmoose:

Oh to be back in the old days when I was a honorable mention on the NetScum pages. Old Spammy and Walt \"PickleJar\" Rhines sure liked to go after anyone who spoke about them in NANAE!

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Tijil
November 13, 2009 4:34 PM
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@Trick: Ah, the good ol' days of NANAE. :)

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varro
November 13, 2009 4:34 PM
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@Trick: That's going back to the pre-history of teh Internet as we Know It - so many hours of entertainment at the antics of John Grubor and his follower the late Steve Boursy...

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floraposte
November 13, 2009 4:34 PM
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@mizmoose: On the bright side, he's been singlehandedly responsible for more filtering code than anybody else on the planet. And those of us who did learn the name Cyberpromo will never forget it (in fact, I have a DVD player from the Cyberhome brand, and I always remember it as Cyberpromo instead).

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gryklin
November 13, 2009 4:34 PM
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ive met the guy. pretty nice when he's not spamming

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3 replies
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dantsea
November 13, 2009 4:34 PM
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@MikeM_inMD: You know who else liked dogs?

Yeah. That's right. Hit--oh, never mind.

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riverstyxxx
November 13, 2009 4:34 PM
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@gryklin: That's because you gave him hot pockets and jolt cola.

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lchen
November 13, 2009 4:34 PM
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why can't they jail him for all the phishing alone? did it not lead to identity theft or actual theft of money?

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Razor512
November 13, 2009 4:34 PM
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The government should also fine him another billion for wasting their time, then to pay it off, empty all of his accounts then force him into hard labor or some kind of government run sweat shop thats just for spammers.

If only the government can get more involved and sue the spammers before the independent companies can, sue each spammer for 2 times the national debt and get awarded at least some of that money, and pretty soon the spammers will be put to good use by paying off our national debt.

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3 replies
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AppleAlex
November 13, 2009 4:34 PM
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@Razor512: you can sue a spammer for 22 trillion if you want. However, if you strip them of all their property and wipe their bank accounts you'll likely only get to around $200,000. as I asked earlier in the comments, do people ever pay?. like those caught for copyright infringement or fraud?

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jayphat
November 13, 2009 4:34 PM
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@AppleAlex: I have to make a leap of judgement and say that it's more of a precident setting measure than anything else. In the event that someone actually earns the money that is fined in the past, then they will actually be able to penalize them the proper amount.


Say they keep charging people the 250K sentence on copyright violations. Then along comes someone caught in a third world country who has made millions off of it. They will still be able to fine him the proper amount and have him not get off because of what was done in the past.


This is the reason you see some companies go to court of the most stupid of things, only to settle with the victim after they win. It's a precedent setting measure.

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Razor512
November 13, 2009 4:34 PM
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@AppleAlex: they will never be able to pay it off but it will make everyone feel better that they will be in debt for the rest of their life. they wont ever have enough money through legal means to start spamming again and if they can put them in jail and get them into hard labor then all the better as there will be an even lower chance of them spamming anyone.

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SybilDisobedience
November 13, 2009 4:34 PM
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Off-topic, but that is a GREAT Halloween costume.

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RandomHookup
November 13, 2009 4:34 PM
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Facebook wins $711 million; will collect $7.11 and a case of V!agra.

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krispykrink
November 13, 2009 4:34 PM
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Charles Repp or Sanford Wallace, what is his real name? We need to get the name right on his \"Wanted\" posters.

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1 replies
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premek
November 13, 2009 4:34 PM
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@krispykrink: You know that the pictures that accompany articles are often strictly illustrational, not depicting the person in the article, right? The picture is simply someone in \"facebook costume\"

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riverstyxxx
November 13, 2009 4:34 PM
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Won't do any good if they can't enforce it, the goldman family still has a judgment against oj simpson for murder..He hasnt paid a dime of it.
It's people like him that are the very reason I gave up on social networking many years back.

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UniKyrn
November 13, 2009 4:34 PM
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And if he can't pay the judgement, into the organ banks with him.

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Razor512
November 13, 2009 4:34 PM
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@UniKyrn: that would also help. It will be line in the 1600's when if you cant pay the debt they will take a pound of flesh for every certain amount you owe

but in this case it will be organs.

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dreamsneverend
November 13, 2009 4:34 PM
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I think after you reach that $100 million mark you become expendable. Let's hire some mercs and erase these guys from the planet.

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1 replies
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TPK
November 13, 2009 4:34 PM
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@dreamsneverend: I certainly don't condone it, but I also have seriously wondered, as much as this guy is universally hated, how has he not yet been the object of a contract with some mob figure?

I would not be at all surprised if he just one day disappears.

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H3ion
November 13, 2009 4:34 PM
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This is a civil judgment, not a fine. Now if Facebook will just pursue this guy mercilessly, take all of his assets, his computer, his dog and cat, maybe the guy will learn a lesson. Maybe not.

Jail time would be wonderful but not in Club Fed. Put him in irons in a basement cell with no light and feed him nothing but Spam.

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1 replies
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Verucalise (Est.February2008)
November 13, 2009 4:34 PM
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@H3ion: Awww, and miss out on all the lovin' that bubba will give him?

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jbl-az
November 13, 2009 4:34 PM
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I don't believe he is still doing this. He quit for a while to be an unsuccessful impresario or club owner or something, but he just can't keep away from the cheap thievery.

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dohtem
November 13, 2009 4:34 PM
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Can we just beat the fuck out of him?

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Rylar
November 13, 2009 4:34 PM
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The irony here is that Facebook sends me spam ALL THE TIME! The rich can spam and the rest of us get sued for it. Sure spam sucks, but lets not forget how many unwanted \"facebook updates\" the victor in this case sends out.

The laughable part about this lawsuit is that if Spamford ever did pay a cent of the fine (Which he won't) the money won't go to any of the people who got spammed.

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Rylar
November 13, 2009 4:34 PM
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I Forgot to mention in my last comment: If you want the 20 year history of spamford wallace go read Spam Kings... Great Book.

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nstonep
November 13, 2009 4:34 PM
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I agree with the spam defense. Why is okay for BIG companies to spam the hell out of us and spamvertise us to death, while a spammer can't. (they don't equate when they involve phishing but still both bother the hell out of me)

Buy frozen orange juice futures and fresh fresh indio oats!

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SacraBos
November 13, 2009 4:34 PM
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Why can't we finally throw this guy in jail. Him and Walt Rines have been spamming for nearly as long as I can remember, and I'm surprised that any provider, ISP, or anyone in the IT industry who hasn't heard of him and would actually do business with him anymore.

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cortana
November 13, 2009 4:34 PM
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Obviously if they can actually pin a criminal charge on him he should get 10 years probation with an internet-usage prohibition for the same period. After all, since his crimes materially involve internet usage, he should be restricted from its use.

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mbd
November 13, 2009 4:34 PM
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I he was bankrupt prior to this judgment, he can't retroactively add it now. That means that Facebook can go after every asset they can find, just like Mr. Goldberg goes after every asset of OJ that his lawyers find.

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StarVapor
November 13, 2009 4:34 PM
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Good luck trying to collect on this court decision.

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edrebber
November 13, 2009 4:34 PM
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I suspect the majority of this guys finances are hidden. He's probably set for life and is enjoying the notoriety.

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