| Jeremy Jaynes was on top of the world. By
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| | operation. (If you're still waiting on
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| age 28, he owned a million-dollar home, a
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| | your privacy software to show up, it's
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| high-class restaurant, a chain of gyms
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| | probably safe to stop checking the
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| and countless other toys. Yet those were
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| | mailbox.)
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| only the spoils of his main line of
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| | Jaynes got lists of millions of email
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| business, which was swindling innocent
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| | addresses through a stolen database of
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| people out of their money through email
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| | America Online customers. He also
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| scams. Now he has been sentenced to 9
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| | illegally obtained e-mail addresses of
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| years in prison. How will this affect the
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| | eBay users. While the prosecutors still
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| spamming community?
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| | don't know how Jaynes got access to the
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| Will other spammers take heed? Don't
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| | lists, the Associated Press reported that
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| count on it.
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| | the AOL names matched a list of 92
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| Jeremy Jaynes was on top of the world. By
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| | million addresses that an AOL software
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| age 28, he owned a million-dollar home, a
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| | engineer has been charged with stealing.
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| high-class restaurant, a chain of gyms
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| | When Jaynes' operation was raided,
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| and countless other toys. Yet those were
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| | investigators found that the house from
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| only the spoils of his main line of
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| | which he ran his operation was wired with
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| business, which was swindling innocent
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| | 16 T-1 lines (a large office building can
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| people out of their money through email
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| | get by on a single T-1 line for all its
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| scams. From an unassuming house serving
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| | users). Investigators also entered into
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| as his company's headquarters in Raleigh,
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| | evidence to-do lists handwritten by
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| NC, Jaynes sent an estimated ten million
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| | Jaynes. Take a look at Jeremy Jayne's
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| messages a day pitching products most
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| | meticulously detailed lists at:
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| recipients didn't want, amassing an
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| | Good Work if You Can Get (Away With) It
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| estimated $24 million fortune in the
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| | The economics of spamming makes Jaynes'
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| process. Using aliases such as Jeremy
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| | decision to build a career of it
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| James and Gaven Stubberfield, Jaynes
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| | understandable, though not noble.
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| spammed his way up to the #8 position on
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| | Spammers work on the law of averages,
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| Spamhaus' Register Of Known Spam
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| | which would seem like an odd strategy
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| Operations (ROKSO) and grossed as much as
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| | considering that the average response
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| $750,000 a month, allowing him to live
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| | rate for a spam message is just one-tenth
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| like a king.
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| | of one percent. However, once you do the
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| However, Jaynes ran head-on into an
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| | math even this miniscule response rate
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| information superhighway road block when
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| | can make one very wealthy very quickly.
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| a Virginia judge sentenced him to nine
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| | If a spammer sends one million messages
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| years in prison for his November 2004
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| | pushing a product width a $40 profit, a
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| conviction on felony charges of using
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| | response rate of 0.1 percent works out to
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| false IP addresses to send mass email
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| | 1000 customers, or $40,000 per million
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| advertisements (some just call it
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| | messages sent. Since each message costs
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| spamming). The conviction was a landmark
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| | only fractions of a penny to send, and
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| decision, as Jaynes became the first
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| | Jaynes was sending literally billions of
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| person in the United States convicted of
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| | messages a year, it's easy to see how he
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| felony spam charges. Though his operation
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| | pulled in $400,000 to $750,000 a month,
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| was based in North Carolina, Jaynes was
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| | while spending perhaps $50,000 on
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| tried in Virginia because it is home to a
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| | bandwidth and other overhead.
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| large number of the routers that control
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| | Spammers have financial motivation to
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| much of North America's Internet traffic
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| | come up with innovative ways to avoid
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| (it's also the home of AOL and a
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| | detection, and they have begun to join
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| government building or two).
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| | forces. But as spammers become savvier,
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| He should've Used the Privacy Software
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| | the public is fighting back. Law
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| During the trial, prosecutors focused on
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| | enforcement has begun to crack down on
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| three of Jaynes' most egregious scams:
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| | internet criminals, like Jaynes, and
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| software that promised to protect users'
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| | corporations are taking measures to
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| private information; a service for
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| | defend their inboxes using anti spam
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| choosing penny stocks to invest in; and a
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| | hardware. Law enforcement, coupled with
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| work-from-home "FedEx refund processor"
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| | the effectiveness of today's anti-spam
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| opportunity that promised $75-an-hour
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| | systems, is introducing hesitation,
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| work but did little more than give buyers
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| | uncertainty and fear for many would be
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| access to a website of delinquent FedEx
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| | spammers. As profitability decreases and
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| accounts. Sound familiar? Anyone with an
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| | risk of prosecution increases, many
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| e-mail address has received countless
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| | spammers will be forced to simply pack up
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| messages originating from Jaynes'
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| | and move on.
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