From recent headlines to the earliest spammer convictions, this ISP has always been at the forefront of the fight to convict spammers of their crimes.

by Alex Goldman ISP-Planet Managing Editor [August 12, 2005]

Few internet companies, let alone legal teams, can boast this kind of continuity. It's 2005, and we've asked to talk to Atlanta, Ga.-based EarthLink's anti-spam team. We're talking to Larry Slovensky, EarthLink assistant general counsel, and to Pete Wellborn, EarthLink outside counsel.

Wellborn's been working for EarthLink as a lawyer outside the company since at least 1998, when EarthLink won its judgment against Sanford Wallace and his company Cyper Protomotions. At the time, Wellborn was quoted in EarthLink's jubilant press release, Cyber Promotions Chokes on its own Spam, "EarthLink has been very aggressive in its crusade against unsolicited junk email, and today we saw the payoff for that aggressiveness. This judgment not only puts one of the most notorious offenders in dire financial straits, it also paves the way for future litigation against spammers."

When EarthLink sued the notorious Buffalo Spammer five years later, Wellborn was still in the fight, noting, "With the Buffalo spammer, EarthLink is continuing its tradition of using state and federal laws to stop spammers."

Spammers now better at hiding
So how has the fight changed? Wellborn says, "if you flash back to 1996, 1997, to EarthLink's landmark case against Sanford Wallace and Cyber Promotions, everything was in his name and address. There was no spoofing."

Today, spam is more sophisticated, although that doesn't mean a spammer won't have an address. "It is not uncommon for a spam entity to have a registered agent, a store front, organized under the laws of the state."

Asked whether all spam comes from Florida, Wellborn explains that it's more complex than that. "Although there does seem to be a disproportionate number of spammers in Miami and Boca Raton, we have also seen groups of spammers in rural Tennessee and part of Michigan. There's no rhyme or reason as to where they gather."

However, Wellborn notes that much spam that appears to originate abroad may in fact come from inside the U.S. "Some spam that appears to originate from overseas is spoofed or is routed through an overseas computer."

He notes that the Buffalo Spammer was part of a criminal network. He was not working alone. For example, he participated in ID theft, exploiting the identity of a man in the midwest he'd never met. "Spammers have to turn to increasingly sophisticated methods," Wellborn notes.

Even where the spam itself is not illegal, spammers can engage in ID theft, fraud, and other illegal activities. "Even before spam was made illegal in the U.S., in the days of Sanford Wallace, there were other aspects of the spamming business that were illegal," says Alexandra Task, EarthLink spokesperson.

What ISPs can do
Wellborn's first piece of advice to ISPs is the most obvious. "ISPs need to collect evidence. There are any number of categories of evidence. Keeping better and more complete and longer maintained RADIUS logs is a good first step. You need a good record keeping function."

But record keeping's not enough. "EarthLink has preached for years that there are three fronts in the spam war: legal, technological, and user education."

Slovensky notes that ISPs have to fight the problem at its source. "We're also paying attention to the people who are paying for spam. We're pursuing it on all levels."

Wellborn adds that spammers sometimes pay others to send the e-mails. "In prosecuting spammers, we define the term 'spammer' broadly to include the person who pushes the button, who hires that person, or who pays for the spam campaign."

Trask concludes by noting that all ISPs need to cooperate. "The industry is working together on MAAWG and other collaborative efforts to end spam."

— End