Spam sender sentenced in Russia for the first time

[R. A. Hettinga]

<http://english.pravda.ru/printed.html?news_id=13170>


 Spam sender sentenced in Russia for the first time - 06/23/2004 19:32

 On June 22 student Dmitry Anosov from the city of Chelybinsk was sentenced
forcreating software causing uncontrolled blocking computers and copying
information?.

   His crime was about sending unsolicited messages to the owners of
GSM-telephones, that is spam.

  The student was put on probation for one year and required to pay fine of
3,000 roubles ($100), the Kommersant reported.

  In the summer of 2003 the employees of cell operator companyUralsky GSM?,
the subsidiary of Megafon company, complained to the police that more than
15,000 cell phone owners were receiving unquotable SMS-messages on May
23-24. The suspect was detected, his apartment was searched, and the police
confiscated the material evidence  the computer having the software for
sending SMS-messages. According to the police, the student created the
software for sending SMS-messages to the customers of Uralsky GSM company.
In February, 2003 Androsov tested his software by sending several
SMS-messages to a company customer. In the end of May, 2003 Androsov used
somebody else?s data to connect to the Internet, and uploaded his software
to the server hosted in St. Petersburg to avoid being detected, and started
the software. As a result, the customers received unquotable SMS-message
discrediting the image of cell phone operator Megafon company.

   SMS-spam sender pleaded guilty. This case can create precedent and help
Russian law-enforcers and legal system to safeguard Russian society people
from spam.

  There is a special law on spam in the USA, but Russia lacks such a law.
The legal regulating of the Internet is only being discussed in Russia.
Internet companies do not try to lobby special anti-spam laws. Therefore,
this court verdict was unique for Russia.

-- 
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R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah at ibuc.com>
The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
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