Man arrested for spim

Spim of course being instant messaging spam. A man was arrested recently for spamming people via instant messages for adult sites.

While I would like to think that anyone that sends spam over any protocol, even instant messaging, could be traced and prosecuted - in this case it looks like the guy was caught for being an idiot. In what appears to be blackmail of sorts:

MySpace users first complained about the initial deluge of messages in October. The company scrambled to delete more messages before they were read, and it made changes in the service to deter the program Greco allegedly used to create new accounts.

The next month, Greco proposed a deal to MySpace executives: He would pay the company $150 a day for the exclusive right to send advertising to MySpace users. Otherwise, "I have no choice but to just sell off my coding to other people and allow them to pick up the projects," he wrote, according to an affidavit by Los Angeles Police Det. Frank Schweitzer.

Company executives contacted law enforcement. Greco agreed to fly to Los Angeles to sign a contract and was arrested when he arrived Wednesday. He was charged with violating a federal anti-spam law, harming MySpace computers and attempting extortion. Facing 18 years in prison if convicted, he was released Thursday under a $25,000 bond.

"I'm not guilty," Greco said in a brief cellphone interview Friday. "I really can't talk about it." His lawyer declined to comment.

Posted by Eric at February 20, 2005 01:06 PM | TrackBack