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The FTC charged him with violations of the CAN-SPAM Act, and the Illinois court ordered him to halt his e-mail operations.
A settlement, which the FTC agreed to in June, includes a judgment of $151,000, suspended because of Kinion's inability to
pay, the FTC said.
Another spam operation used "spam zombies" -- computers used without their owners’ knowledge -- to conceal the source of sexually
explicit spam. Defendants William Dugger, Angelina Johnson and John Vitale also violated the adult labeling rule, the FTC
said.
The settlement, approved in July by the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, requires the three defendants to
give up $8,000 in spam-related profits, and it requires them to obtain permission from other people's computers before using
them to send e-mail.
The fourth spam operation used spam to drive traffic to Web sites by third parties, the FTC said. Brian McMullen, doing business
as BM Entertainment and B Pimp, routed his promotions for pharmaceuticals and adult content through unwitting consumers’ computers,
the FTC said.
A settlement approved by the Illinois court in July imposes a judgment of $24,193, suspended based on McMullen's inability
to pay, the FTC said. In addition, he has pleaded guilty to criminal charges related to spam and unauthorized possession of
credit cards. He currently is awaiting sentencing.
The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.
