more on Spammer bail set at $1M

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren () vortex com>
Date: November 9, 2004 1:26:34 PM EST
To: Richard Wiggins <richard.wiggins () gmail com>
Cc: David Farber <dave () farber net>, lauren () vortex com
Subject: Re: [IP] Spammer bail set at $1M

The basic problem is that he was not prosecuted (as far as I can
tell) for fraud, or theft, or bunco, or ...  He was prosecuted only
for sending spam -- relating only to Virginia and even then only
because he didn't use his real name.  Those other crimes might well
be deserving of a significant sentence -- but he wasn't tried for
those, nor has it been demonstrated or proven in court that the $24M
the state claims he has is illicit under the law.

If we aren't careful, we're going to validate the tactics of the
RIAA, MPAA, and other organizations trying to prosecute in one state
for one crime while really being interested in interstate activities
of an often different sort.  The kind of reasoning used in the spam
case can easily be turned around and result in all manner of
disproportionate sentences.

I'm one of the most vocal haters of spam on the Net for many, many
years and am involved in anti-spam work, but that doesn't mean that
I support disproportionate or skewed enforcement efforts.  Give
prosecutors an inch with this stuff and they'll take a lightyear.

--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein
lauren () pfir org or lauren () vortex com or lauren () privacyforum org
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
http://www.pfir.org/lauren
Co-Founder, PFIR - People For Internet Responsibility - 
http://www.pfir.org
Co-Founder, Fact Squad - http://www.factsquad.org
Co-Founder, URIICA - Union for Representative International Internet
                     Cooperation and Analysis - http://www.uriica.org
Moderator, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com
Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy

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