Sanford Wallace
Sanford "Spamford" Wallace is a spammer who came to notoriety in 1997, promoting himself as the original Spam King.
Career
In the late 1990s, his company, Cyber Promotions, aka Cyberpromo, was widely blacklisted as a source of unsolicited email. Wallace's high-profile pro-spam stance and unrepentant persistence earned him the derisive nickname 'Spamford'. (Wallace later registered the Internet address spamford.com in spite.)
Prior to his email spam ventures, Wallace had gained notoriety in other questionable marketing circles, as a heavy utilizer of junk fax marketing,[1] a practice outlawed in the U.S. since 1991.
In 1995, Wallace and partner Walt Rines formed Cyber Promotions, entering the spam market. Thanks to a self-marketing campaign, Cyberpromo rapidly became the most successful seller of email marketing -- as well as the number one source of unsolicited email. His activities won him the 1997 Ig Nobel Prize [2].
Wallace's company brought a number of spam-blocking evasion tactics to the fore of the spam battle. False return addresses, relaying, and multihoming were among the questionable practices used by Cyberpromo to ensure the penetration of their advertising. Wallace also spearheaded an early manifestation of astroturfing, using false names to defend the activities of his company.
Back to his old tricks
In April 1998, Wallace publicly announced that he was quitting the spam business. Cyberpromo was converted to an opt-in email marketing company and renamed GTMI. The new company was plagued by major financial problems, as well as the spectre of its former self, with large numbers of people unconvinced of Wallace's change of heart. Wallace pulled out of the new venture quickly, citing concerns (in some reports) that his return to illegal junk fax operations had failed to provide sufficient funds. GTMI's unshaken legacy eventually led to its rapid demise.
After Wallace's internet connection was disconnected for spamming in 1999, he filed a frivolous lawsuit against anti-spam activist Mark Welch, but abandoned the suit a month later.
Wallace didn't leave the Internet marketing business entirely, it appears. In 2001 he was linked to a website, passthison.com, which utilized multiple-window launching to snag Web viewers, an advertising practice rarely seen outside of the online pornography industry.
Wallace was also involved in another opt-in project, SmartBotPRO.NET, which is now apparently also defunct.
On 2004-10-08, the FTC filed suit against Wallace and his company, SmartBOT, for infecting computers with spyware then offering a solution to remove the problem for $30. On 2005-01-04, it was announced that Wallace had agreed to stop distributing the software until the charges with the FTC are settled.
On 2006-03-22, the FTC filed a suit [3] again against Wallace and SmartBOT for practices similar to the 2004 suit. This time Wallace and his co-defendants were ordered to pay $4,089,550.48 in fines.
On 2007-03-27, Forbes magazine reported that MySpace had filed suit against Wallace for Phishing and spamming. The LA Times reported on the same day that Wallace used automated software not allowed by MySpace to create 11,000 fake profiles, in order to direct MySpace users to websites with questionable content. In July 2007, US District Judge Audrey B. Collins issued an order prohibiting Wallace from creating or maintaining MySpace profiles, and from using MySpace to post public comments, or send private messages.
As of March 2007, he is currently a DJ in Las Vegas, making weekly appearances at OPM nightclub in Caesars Palace on the Las Vegas Strip under the name DJ Master Web. To contact the club about Spamford http://www.o-pmlv.com/flash_redirect.html
External links
News articles
- Sanford Wallace mini-bio and interviews at AnnOnline
- CNET: Return of the Spam King Nov. 20, 1997
- CNET: Spam site killed under threats Jan. 19, 1998
- Wired: Sanford Wallace: Back to the Fax? Jan. 23, 1998
- FTC files case against spyware companies Oct. 7, 2004
- U.S. files first suit against Internet 'spy ware' October 8, 2004
- Notorious Net marketer to halt spyware ads Jan. 4, 2005
- FTC Orders Former Spam King To Pay $4 Million For Spyware Scam May 04, 2006
- MySpace files phishing and spam suit against Sanford Wallace March 27, 2007