Spammer Fined Millions, Decides to Become Anti-Spam Consultant Instead - Ryan Pitylak Goes Straight?   - 1,959 Views,

The college student was notorious for the extravagant lifestyle he lead, particularly for a college student, all funded by the proceeds of his spamming. His take included a brand new BMW and a half-million dollar home. Not bad for an undergrad!

But Microsoft and the Texas attorney general have changed that, with twin lawsuits which settled this week against Pitylak, who just recently graduated from the University of Texas.

The exact terms of the multimillion dollar settlements have not been disclosed, but they have been months in the wrangling.

Months during which, says Pitylak, he saw the light, and claims to have had a change of heart.

“I started to realize (spam) is bad for business and bad for society and I wanted to do something to resolve that,” claims Pitylak.

So much so that Pitylak has founded Pitylak Security, an organization which he says is aimed at helping the anti-spam community, if they’ll have him.

Pitylak explained that “My decision to move into the anti-spam community and start a consulting company to help fight spam was a decision that I came across when I found out there was some interest in my skill set. I was looking for an outlet to help out the anti-spam community and based on that interest I decided to move forward with setting up this anti-spam consulting company.”

And why not? It seems to have worked for Kevin Mitnik.