Broadband and Me

Mission: Kill Spam

BBC NEWS | Politics | MPs uncover seedy world of spam

But it was the chilling evidence of Steve Linford head of the Spamhaus Project that really made members of the summit sit up and listen.
He said the project's team of 12 investigators had tracked down 200 of the worst spammers, responsible for 90% of all unsolicited e-mails, and registered them on its ROKSO database of known spam operations.
'Prolific fraudsters'
To be eligible for registration, the guilty have to have been thrown off three consecutive internet service providers (ISPs) for spamming.
"These guys are prolific fraudsters. They have been at it for years. They have been thrown off ISP after ISP," said Mr Linford.
They have got criminal records as long as your arm - they have no intention of stopping whatever the law says

Steve Linford
Spamhaus Project
The investigators' work focuses on identifying the spammers, tracking them back and finding their names and addresses, he says.
"We dredge up everything, including their criminal records, everything that a judge would need for a prosecution.
"We get a lot of threats from them.
"They have got criminal records as long as your arm - they have no intention of stopping whatever the law says."
Threats
The ROKSO operation, obviously upsets the spammers, says Mr Linford.

It beggars belief that these people can get away with such behaviour! Why should anyone have to have spam when they don't want it? More importantly why should someone who tries to do something about it get threatened in such a way?

I've expressed my thanks to Steve before for his help with aspects of work. Now I'm in awe!

Round of applause for Steve and his team.