Al Ralsky is a very prolific spammer and his name is well known among ISP abuse desks. Along with 10 other people he was indicted today after a 2 year investigation by the Justice Department, according to an article published today by the Detroit Free Press.
U.S. Attorney Stephen J. Murphy said, “Today’s charges seek to knock out one of the largest illegal spamming and fraud operations in the country, an international scheme to make money by manipulating stock prices through illegal spam e-mail promotions. I commend the excellent investigative work of the FBI, Postal Inspection Service, and the IRS-Criminal Investigation Division. I also wish to recognize the significant support and expertise provided by the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section of the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice.”
Al has a long history of spamming, and has been involved in legal actions with ISPs in the past, including one suit where he was sued by Verizon for sending spam to Verizon subscribers. That suit was eventually settled.
This suit can only be good for legitimate email senders. Gangs like Al Ralsky’s make it much more difficult for ISPs to selectively block spam, and trying to combat their use of botnets has resulted in legitmate email being blocked. Removing them as a source of spam will make it easier for ISPs to segregate good mail from bad mail.
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‘Taint a suit, it’s an indictment.
Suits are civil, indictments are criminal.