Spammers pockets emptied in settlement

he order, following a lawsuit filed by Earthlink in 2004, requires Damon DeCrescenzo and David Burstyn to pay an undisclosed fee sum the company.

"Today's announcement is the latest in a long list of legal victories," said Larry Slovensky, assistant general counsel for Earthlink. "Filing lawsuits against alleged spammers and seeking court orders that put them out of business... and helps preserve the integrity of the internet for all users."

When earthlink sued DeCrescenzo and Burstyn in 2004 anti-spam organisation Spamhuas ranked the former as one of the world's worst spammers. The pair were alleged to be part of the Alabama Spammers spam ring which comprised 26 individuals and companies. Between them they were responsible for over 250 million spam emails often connected to phone lines in the Birmingham, Alabama area.

An official letter from Earthlink to the District Court in Atlanta said the spammers were involved in, "a massive scheme of theft, spamming and spoofing".

Earthlink's February lawsuit alleged that the Alabama Spammers used stolen or falsified credit cards, identity theft, banking fraud and other illegal activities to fraudulently purchase internet accounts and send out junk emails.

www.earthlink.net