Sanford Wallace
Sanford "Spamford" Wallace is a spammer who came to notoriety in 1997, promoting himself as the original Spam King.
Career
In the late 1990s, his company, Cyber Promotions, aka Cyberpromo, was widely blacklisted as a source of unsolicited email. Wallace's high-profile pro-spam stance and unrepentant persistence earned him the derisive nickname 'Spamford'. (Wallace later registered the Internet address spamford.com out of spite.)
Prior to his email spam ventures, Wallace had gained notoriety in other questionable marketing circles, as a heavy utilizer of junk fax marketing,[1] a practice outlawed in the U.S. since 1991.
In 1995, Wallace formed Cyber Promotions, entering the spam market. Thanks to a self-marketing campaign, Cyberpromo rapidly became the most successful seller of email marketing -- as well as the number one source of unsolicited email.
Wallace's company brought a number of spam-blocking evasion tactics to the fore of the spam battle. False return addresses, relaying, and multihoming were among the questionable practices used by Cyberpromo to ensure the penetration of their advertising.
Retirement and reemergence
In April 1998, Wallace publicly announced that he was quitting the spam business. Cyberpromo was converted to an opt-in email marketing company and renamed GTMI. The new company was plagued by major financial problems, as well as the spectre of its former self, with large numbers of people unconvinced of Wallace's change of heart. Wallace pulled out of the new venture quickly. GTMI's unshaken legacy eventually led to its rapid demise.
After Wallace's internet connection was disconnected for spamming in 1999, he filed a lawsuit against anti-spam activist Mark Welch, but abandoned the suit a month later.
Wallace did not leave the Internet marketing business entirely, it appears. In 2001 he was linked to a website, passthison.com, which utilized multiple-window launching to snag Web viewers, an advertising practice rarely seen outside of the online pornography industry. Wallace was also involved in another opt-in project, SmartBotPRO.NET, which is now apparently also defunct.
On 2004-10-08, the FTC filed suit against Wallace and his company, SmartBOT, for infecting computers with spyware then offering a solution to remove the problem for $30.[2] On 2005-01-04, it was announced that Wallace had agreed to stop distributing the software until the charges with the FTC are settled.
On 2006-03-22, the FTC filed a suit[3] again against Wallace and SmartBOT for practices similar to the 2004 suit. This time Wallace and his co-defendants were ordered to pay $5,089,550.48 in fines.[4]
On 2007-03-27, Forbes magazine[5] reported that MySpace had filed suit against Wallace for Phishing and spamming. The LA Times[6] reported on the same day that Wallace used automated software not allowed by MySpace to create 11,000 fake profiles, in order to direct MySpace users to websites with questionable content. In July 2007, US District Judge Audrey B. Collins issued an order prohibiting Wallace from creating or maintaining MySpace profiles, and from using MySpace to post public comments, or send private messages. In April 2008, the California Central District Court issued a default judgment against Wallace in MySpace's lawsuit, after Wallace failed to turn over documents or appear in court.[7]
As of March 2007, he is currently a DJ in Las Vegas, making weekly appearances at OPM nightclub (name changed to 'Poetry Nightclub' October 5, 2007) in Caesars Palace Forum Shops on the Las Vegas Strip under the name DJ Master Web.
On 2008-01-26 the UK Register reported that the Federal Trade Commission has asked the Judge overseeing the 2006 settlement to find Wallace and partner Walter Rines in civil contempt of court for their use of malware and social engineering on MySpace to promote porn and gambling sites.[8] In May 2008 Wallace and Rines were found guilty and ordered to pay $230 million to MySpace by the L.A. District Court when they failed to appear for trial.[9]
References
- ^ Life In Spamalot
- ^ Spam Daily News | Court slams former spam king over spyware
- ^ FTC Cracks down On Spyware Operation
- ^ Order of Default Judgment, Permanent Injunction, and Other Equitable Relief Against Sanford Wallace and SmartBot.Net, Inc
- ^ MySpace files phishing and spam suit against Sanford Wallace - Forbes.com
- ^ MySpace sues 'Spam King' over fake profiles - Los Angeles Times
- ^ MySpace wins suit against 'spam king' | Tech news blog - CNET News.com
- ^ http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/26/ftc_contempt_action_spamford_wallace/
- ^ MySpace Wins Record $230m in Case Against 'Spam King' May 14, 2008
External links
News articles
- Sanford Wallace mini-bio and interviews from archive.org, originally at AnnOnline
- CNET: Return of the Spam King November 20, 1997
- CNET: Spam site killed under threats January 19, 1998
- Wired: Sanford Wallace: Back to the Fax? January 23, 1998
- FTC files case against spyware companies October 7, 2004
- U.S. files first suit against Internet 'spy ware' October 8, 2004
- Notorious Net marketer to halt spyware ads January 4, 2005
- FTC Orders Former Spam King To Pay $4 Million For Spyware Scam May 4, 2006
- MySpace files phishing and spam suit against Sanford Wallace March 27, 2007
- Spamford Wallace's MySpace riches come under attack January 26, 2008
- MySpace Wins Record $230m in Case Against 'Spam King' May 14, 2008
Court cases
- Cyber Promotions v AOL
- Cyber Promotions v CompuServe
- Cyber Promotions v Earthlink Wallace case archives
- Wallace v. Welch (1999)
- Spamford Wallace banished from MySpace
See also
