A 27 year old Seattle man responsible for sending billions of spam e-mails every day has been taken into custody. A lawyer for Microsoft calls Robert Soloway one of the world's top 10 spammer. And officials suggest now that he has been arrested you may notice an immediate drop in the amount of spam in your inbox.Soloway's been charged with 35 counts including fraud, money laundering and identity theft.
While no one wants to receive unsolicited email advertising products you don't want, (well, apparently someone must, or there wouldn't be any point to spamming), prosecutors say Soloway went much further, breaking numerous laws to get his messages out.
Many of his emails include fake headers with e-mail addresses registered to names of innocent individuals or organizations, which has led to some email services blacklisting those addresses or domains.
He tells prosecutors he has no money, but he drives a Mercedes and lives in an expensive apartment. This isn't Soloway's first tussle with the law. In 2005 Microsoft won a $7 million judgment against him, and in 2006, an Oklahoma ISP won another $10 million. If found guilty in the federal case, Soloway could be facing some serious jail time.
