Suing Spammers: Is It Worth It?

Online Media Daily is reporting that Microsoft has filed a lawsuit against a spammer they sued 7 years ago for the same thing. Boris Mizhen is accused of spamming Hotmail users and then using millions of fake accounts to manipulate the service’s spam filters. Mizhen and his associates sent their spam to those fake accounts and then moved the messages to their inboxes to trick Hotmail into thinking they were legit and removing the block.

          “Defendants’ deceptive conduct allowed them to circumvent Hotmail spam filters and to continue to disseminate a vast quantity of spam email messages to legitimate Hotmail users,” the company asserts.

An interesting tactic? Yes. A real scum bag? Pretty much. That said I’m not sure suing spammers is really all that wise. There have been many lawsuits filed and won and huge settlements awarded, but have the companies who won ever seen a dime? Not likely. Most spammers avoid paying by filing bankruptcy, and some live overseas, making collecting futile. The companies have their victories-and their legal expenses. Is it worth it? It doesn’t appear to stop spammers one bit, and Mizhen is proof.  He lost the first lawsuit, was ordered to pay Microsoft $2 million and agreed not to spam Hotmail users any more. That didn’t last long. While something needs to be done about spammers I don’t think lawsuits are the answer. Instead, we need tough new anti-spam laws and more prosecutions. Multi-million dollar judgments don’t faze spammers one bit. Maybe the prospect of doing hard jail time will.