Spammer to pay $40,000
Spam King agrees to settlement with NY State.
High-profile email marketer Scott Richter, aka the 'Spam King', has agreed to pay $40,000 in settlement of a lawsuit
brought against him by the State of New York - a mere drop in the ocean compared to the $20 million judgement NY State
has initially sought.
Richter, who also agreed to pay $10,000 in investigative costs, has promised to keep records of his
business and make them available to the attorney general, but - despite agreeing to the settlement - he still
denies any violations of the law on his part.
While, back in December 2003, NY Attorney General Eliot Spitzer
said: "We will drive [spammers] into bankruptcy, and
therefore others will not come into the marketplace to take their place," the $40,000 settlement is unlikely to be
of
serious financial concern to Richter and his company OptInRealBig.com.
In a statement
following the settlement Spitzer chose to focus on Richter's agreement to be open with his business records: "This
settlement holds Richter and his company to a new standard of accountability in their
delivery of emails," said Spitzer. "If he does not fulfill these standards, he will find himself back in court,
facing greater penalties."
Meanwhile, Richter turns his attention to the other legal battles in which he is currently involved - including
his own action against SpamCop, arguments over trademarks
with Hormel Foods and being sued by Microsoft (which, Richter will have noted, was
recently awarded a $4 million judgement against another spammer).
22 July 2004
Tags:
spam
del.icio.us 
digg this
