Porn Spammer Nailed http://web.archive.org/web/20010420113412/www.wired.com/news/...

Porn Spammer Nailed

by Arik Hesseldahl

10:55 a.m. Sep. 4, 1998 PDT

NEW YORK -- Juno Online Services celebrated its detective work Thursday, announcing it had finally caught
up with the alleged spammer who has forged Juno email addresses to hawk pornographic videos.

Juno's Richard Buchband said the national Internet service provider found Ronald Alvin, chief of suspected
porn marketer TCPS Inc., at his home in Brooklyn, where he was served with legal papers last week.

"They went to extraordinary lengths to make themselves unavailable to the public," said Buchband, vice
president of the New York-based company. Buchband said Alvin used a complex web of rented mailboxes,
unlisted phone numbers, and false addresses to avoid being discovered.

Juno initially filed suit in May in a Manhattan federal court against TCPS and Alvin's affiliated firm, Financial
Planning Associates, but it has taken the company this long to trace the operation, which is based in
Brooklyn.

Juno accused Alvin of running a business that sent several million spam messages with false Juno accounts
listed as the return address -- a practice that Juno has successfully sued other spammers for in the past.

One of the messages in question contained the subject line "Astounding World Record Sex," and advertised
videos like "World's Biggest Gang Bang" and "Gang Bang II."

Using an address obtained from within many of the the spam messages, Juno's lawyer, John Lovi, traced
Alvin to a Manhattan mail drop which recieved mail for Alvin, TCPS, and Financial Planning Associates, another
firm connected to Alvin.

"When we asked the owner of the establishment for account information on that mailbox, he said he wouldn't
release it without a subpeona, which I was happy to serve him with," Lovi said.

That account information led Lovi to Alvin's home in Brookyn, where he was served with papers on 25
August.

Lovi said Alvin has until 15 September to respond to the court papers. "He may decide to run, or he may
decide to stand and fight in trial."

If the case goes to trial, Lovi is confident Juno will prevail, and will be able to recover damages. "Given the
number of solicitations [Alvin] sent out, and the fact that he is in a highly profitable area of Internet
commerce, we should be able to recover a large award."

Other services have been trying to locate Alvin for some time, among them America Online and Hotmail.

When Wired News tried to reach Ronald Alvin on a number listed in one of the unsolicited porn emails, a man
first answered to the name of "Ronald." He then hesitated and gave his name as Dave Jackson.

Jackson said he had heard nothing of Alvin being served with court papers. "He would have told me if he
had," he said. Jackson agreed to take a message for Alvin, which was not returned.

Jackson defended Alvin, saying that the company specifically avoided using Juno addresses in its spam
messages because Juno has been so aggressive in the past in bringing suit against others.

"If [bulk mail with Juno return addresses] happened once, it was a mistake and someone here screwed up,"
Jackson said. "If it happened several dozen times, then something's wrong."

Buchband disagreed, calling the bulk mailing assault "very frequent."

"That's why they are one of many we are pursuing with this lawsuit," he said.

1 of 2 1/13/07 7:05 PM
Porn Spammer Nailed http://web.archive.org/web/20010420113412/www.wired.com/news/...

The suit seeks US$1 million in punitive damages against Alvin for hurting Juno's reputation, trademark
infringement, false designation of origin, fraud, and unjust enrichment. The suit also asks for a permanent
injunction against Alvin and TCPS.

John Mozena, spokesman for CAUCE (the Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email) applauded Juno's
move.

"This is something we've been trying to get the providers to do for some time. We've been hoping that they
would unleash their kennels of attack lawyers on these spammers who ruin their reputations," Mozena said.

At least one company that benefits from the spam business refused to defend Alvin's alleged practices.

Using fake return addresses is considered "a major no-no," according to Todd Farmer, president of Extractor
Pro Marketing, a Detroit-based maker of bulk email software.

"There's a correct way to do it and there's a wrong way to do it. Forging and cloaking is the wrong way. It
angers the recipient, hurts the ISP, and gives the marketer a negative image.

"If you send a nice targeted message for a quality product or service with valid contact information, you can
do very well with UCE [unsolicited commercial email]," added Farmer.

This is Juno's second major lawsuit against a spammer. In November 1997, Juno sued five companies for
allegedly sending spam from forged Juno accounts. Lovi said that all the defendants in that suit who could
be found settled the case for undisclosed damages.

Two other defendants, Strippers Inc. of Beverly Hills, California, and Scott Allen Export Sales of Somerset,
New Jersey, are still being sought in that case, Lovi said.

Related Wired Links:

Networks Unhappy with Spam Bill

23.Jun.98

Extractor Pro Will Make Spammers Pay

3.Feb.98

Juno Jumps on Spammers

25.Nov.97

Copyright © 1994-2001 Wired Digital Inc. All rights reserved.

2 of 2 1/13/07 7:05 PM