King of Spam Scott Richter Steps Down from Throne and Pays Microsoft $7million   8/9/2005 - 917 views, 1 Comment

The settlement follows his filing for bankruptcy, which in turn followed the filing of coordinated lawsuits by both Microsoft, and New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.

Richter at a Spam & the Law conference

In addition to the $7million dollar cash settlement, Richter agreed to withdraw his bankruptcy petition, and to abide by all state and federal anti-spam laws, including CAN-SPAM.

Said Richter, “In response to Microsoft’s and the New York attorney general’s lawsuits, we made significant changes to OptInRealBig.com’s emailing practices and have paid a heavy price. I am committed to sending email only to those who have requested it and to complying fully with all federal and state anti-spam laws.” Richter, once recognized as one of the top 3 spammers in the world, has been saying for quite some time that he plans to go straight (indeed he claimed to have already done so in this exclusive interview with Aunty Spam, and recently surprised many by having his listing on the Spamhaus blacklist expunged.

“We have now proven that we can take one of the most profitable spammers in the world and separate him from his money. And I think that sends a powerful message to other people who might be tempted to engage in illegal spam,” said the chief counsel for Microsoft, Brad Smith.