Soloway Pleads Guilty, Faces Up to 26 Years in Prison

Back in May, 2007 Robert Alan Soloway, a "Spam King" (as he was dubbed) was arrested on criminal charges by the Justice Department (read the original blog post with my thoughts on this event) and at the time there was a lot of discussion amongst the media as to whether or not this was a significant event.  Would spam volumes fall?  What effect would it have on the spammer community?  Have we won a major battle in the fight against email and internet pollution?

My opinion then was that it wouldn't have an effect and the numbers over the past 10 months since his arrest have backed up that claim.  Since May, 2007 email spam volumes have actually increased by about 150%! 
So, did this have an effect on the spammer community?  Clearly not from the standpoint of the cyber criminal's use of email as an effective delivery vehicle.  If it had any effect at all, it was from the perspective of further emphasizing that spammers should remain as behind the scenes and as stealthy as possible.  Soloway very much bucked the trend in this regard and even went so far as to mock a lawsuit filed against his company by Microsoft.

Based on Soloway's guilty plea he faces up to 26 years in prison.  His sentencing is scheduled for June 20th.  So, the question remains: "Have we won a major battle in the fight against email and internet pollution?"  I believe the answer to the question is "Yes", but true success in this war is clearly not defined by victories in small, individual battles.  For every spammer arrested, prosecuted, and fined there are many others ready and willing to carry the torch.