New York Tells Spammer To Keep On Spamming

from the and-don't-do-it-again! dept

Considered one of the top spammers worldwide, Scott Richter and his OptInRealBig spamming operation have been officially slapped on the wrist by New York State AG Eliot Spitzer. NY (and Microsoft) made a big deal of suing Richter last year, but the end result is a measly $40,000 fine (plus $10,000 in "investigative costs") as part of a settlement. This is just a bit lower than the $20 million fine Spitzer threatened Richter with when the case was announced. As with all of these types of settlements the company "admits no wrongdoing." The only other "concession" that Spitzer got out of Richter was a promise to send a copy of every spam message he sends to Spitzer's office. Yes, for a small fine, it looks like Richter gets to add Eliot Spitzer's email address to his spam lists. Richter's lawyer (who also happens to be his father) suggests that the settlement was so low because the state had no case. They were particularly annoyed by the fact that OptIn was referred to as a "deceptive spammer" when the truth of the matter is that it's a very very obvious spammer.