Texas Student in CAN-SPAM case
p2pnet.net News:- Texas attorney general Greg Abbott has brought the state’s first lawsuit against what he says was one of the world’s largest spam operations – run by a University of Texas student.
University of Texas at Austin student Ryan Samuel Pitylak and Mark Stephen Trotter of California are named in Abbott’s federal SPAM-CAN complaint as controlling PayPerAction LLC, Leadplex LLC and Leadplex Inc, three companies registered in Nevada and ranked by SpamHaus.org as the fourth largest illegal spam operation in the world, says the Texas AG.
Convictions under the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003 (CAN-SPAM) carry penalties of $250 per violation, up to $2 million.
Established in 2002, PayPerAction operated more than 250 assumed names, “leading Internet users to believe they are being deluged by different companies soliciting for services,” says Abbott, adding:
“When opened, most e-mails sent by the defendants contained hyped-up language pitching mortgage refinancing services, even though the defendants are not licensed in Texas to provide such services.
“Consumers often responded to these e-mails by providing additional information after being told their privacy would be protected. Instead, the defendants sold the information as sales leads to other companies for as much as $28 per lead.”
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See:-
first lawsuit - Attorney General Abbott Files First Texas Lawsuit For Violation Of E-mail Spam Laws, Texas AG Office, January 13, 2005
January 14th, 2005 at 11:56 pm
I wonder how many threats Mr. Pitylak has received from anti-spam zealots.
From http://x500.utexas.edu [UT Student Directory]
Name Ryan Pitylak
Ryan Samuel Pitylak
Title Junior, Philosophy
College/Department College of Liberal Arts
E-Mail ryan@payperaction.com
Home Phone +1 512-320-9930
Home Address 2002a Guadalupe St # 290
Austin, TX 78705-5609-02
January 16th, 2005 at 10:14 pm
Well I guess by your statements, you must be either in co-horts with Mr. Pitylak, or be involved in illegal spamming yourself. Just because something is legal, doesn’t make it right. If these guys are sending email to people who have specifically asked for it, and, they’re not twisting the truth in the messages, or not deliberatly trying to decieve people in order to rip them off, then I would say they have a legitimate company. But hasn’t the word “Spam” always been associated with UNSOLICITED email? You know, email you didn’t ask for? But they shove it down your throat anyway? Nobody likes spam. Even the ones who send it!
Sincerely,
Anonymous
March 8th, 2006 at 8:34 am
So, this is to follow-up on the information left on the website. As everyone knows, I was in the Spamming business until about one year ago. I have made a dramatic change in opinion about the industry and I would like to become a part of, and an advocate for, the anti-spam industry. I will be providing services to businesses in the future so that they can become better prepared to fight off spam. This was not a switch motivated by money, but an actual switch in opinion about what spam is, and how it should be handled in the community. Please visit my website if you’re interested in more information. http://www.skycorpservices.com