Spammer faces 471 years jail, US$117.25m fines

Many sports fans whose team fails to achieve are in the habit of airing critical opinions of management and media. But one baseball fan is now looking at a possible 471 years in prison, and US$117.25 in fines for expressing his discontent online.

Allan Eric Carlson, 39, did not murder anyone to invite such punishment. Instead, the Philadelphia Phillies follower launched spam attacks. One e-mail's subject line read "Corrupt Philly Media Keeps Phils in Cellar."

Carlson faked the return addresses on his spam, using those of sports reporters at the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News.

Many of his messages bounced to the reporters' mailboxes, crippling the servers where they were stored, Reuters reported.

FBI agents arrested Carlson at his home in a Los Angeles suburb on Tuesday. He is being charged with hacking, spoofing return addresses, launching spam attacks, and identity theft.

Talkback 3 comments

    yeah put everyone in jail for ...a human -- 11/10/03

    yeah put everyone in jail for punching plastic keys on a keyboard and clicking a mouse button

    the degree of stupidity in this world amazes me

    ya stupid monkeys...

    keep walking ya hairless apes...

    keep suffering...

    Nah, Put them in jail for wast ...Anonymous -- 14/10/03

    Nah, Put them in jail for wasting time energy and peoples money for forcing us against our will to receive information that we don't want to receive.

    Yeh for freedom of speech but nay to denial of freedom, and that's what stupid brainless kids who think they're hackers, need to be punished for.

    One down, several thousand to ...Full Name -- 19/10/03

    One down, several thousand to go.

    But seriously, Why did they arrest this Carlson person, when Alan Ralsky, Tommie Cowles, and Eddie Marin do ten thousand times as much damage before lunch, seven days a week, 365 days a year, and have been at it for years? Ralsky, Cowles, and Marin even boast of it in the newspapers. So why aren't they in jail?

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