EarthLink Evidence Leads to One-Year Prison Sentence for 'Timeshare Spammer'

22 November 2005

EarthLink's (ELNK) investigation of Peter Moshou, aka the "Timeshare Spammer," has led to Moshou being sentenced today to serve one year in federal prison and pay $120,000 in restitution stemming from his conviction in June on a federal charge of violating the CAN-SPAM Act. Moshou's criminal prosecution was among the first under the CAN-SPAM Act.
Additionally, EarthLink, the nation's next generation Internet service provider, won a $15.4 million judgment against a Miami, Florida, man whom EarthLink charged with sending hundreds of thousands of unsolicited e-mails advertising discount ink jet printer cartridges and other printer supplies. The judgment comes just 10 months after EarthLink filed a lawsuit against Craig Brockwell and his company, BC Alliance, Inc.
"EarthLink is committed to using every tool in our arsenal to fight spam and other forms of Internet abuse. Obtaining a judgment against an individual like Brockwell and working with law enforcement to provide evidence in criminal prosecutions benefits all Internet users. Both of these cases represent more examples of how civil litigation and legal action can put spammers out of business," said Larry Slovensky, assistant general counsel for EarthLink. The Brockwell judgment was awarded late last month.
In the Moshou case, EarthLink worked with federal law enforcement to provide evidence after naming the Florida resident as a defendant in a civil lawsuit filed in January. According to EarthLink's lawsuit, Moshou sent millions of unsolicited commercial e-mails in 2004 and 2005 seeking personal information by offering brokerage services for people interested in selling their timeshares. EarthLink's lawsuit charged Moshou with CAN-SPAM violations including falsifying the "from" field in e-mail addresses (spoofing), using deceptive subject lines, failing to identify the sender and failing to provide an electronic unsubscribe option, among other violations.
In the Brockwell judgment, U.S. District Court Judge Beverly B. Martin granted EarthLink's requests for monetary damages and injunctive relief, a ruling that prevents Craig Brockwell and BC Alliance, Inc., from illegally spamming any Internet user, regardless of the user's ISP.
EarthLink filed a lawsuit against Brockwell and BC Alliance in January, charging them with violating the CAN-SPAM Act and various other state and federal statutes, including the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the Georgia Computer Systems Protection Act and state and federal racketeering laws.
EarthLink's victory in the Brockwell case, and success in assisting with the Moshou criminal conviction, are the latest examples of the ISP's multi- faceted fight against spam and other Internet intrusions. Last month, the company launched the EarthLink Protection Control Center, an integrated suite of protection and security features which includes EarthLink's AntiVirus, Spyware Blocker(TM), ScamBlocker(TM) and Firewall protection. Since 1996, EarthLink has sued more than a hundred spammers and won more than $65 million in judgments. EarthLink has also worked with law enforcement and provided evidence that led to the criminal convictions of two spammers.

Source: W3reports

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