Politech is the oldest Internet resource devoted to politics and technology. Launched in 1994 by Declan McCullagh, the mailing list has chronicled the growing intersection of law, culture, technology, politics, and law. Since 2000, so has the Politech web site.

________________________________________________________________________________________________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	CRM
THURSDAY, APRIL 29, 2004	(202) 514-2008
WWW.USDOJ.GOV	TDD (202) 514-1888

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE ANNOUNCES ARRESTS OF  DETROIT-AREA
MEN ON VIOLATIONS OF THE 'CAN-SPAM' ACT

	WASHINGTON, D.C. - Assistant Attorney General Christopher A. Wray of 
the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Jeff Collins of the Eastern 
District of Michigan today announced the arrest of two Detroit-area men 
allegedly responsible for sending hundreds of thousands of commercial 
electronic mail messages advertising diet patches and other devices, 
while using false and fraudulent headers to hide their identities.  In a 
related matter, the Federal Trade Commission worked in conjunction with 
the U.S. Attorney's Office and has filed a civil actions against the 
defendants.
	
	The criminal charges in this case are the first under the Controlling 
the Assault of Non-Solicited Marketing and Pornography ("CAN-SPAM") Act, 
which was enacted in December 2003 and took effect on January 1, 2004. 
The Act criminalizes, among other things, sending multiple commercial 
electronic mail messages with materially false or fraudulent return 
addresses.

	"This prosecution, the first under the CAN-SPAM Act, clearly 
demonstrates the benefits of a concerted effort by the Department of 
Justice, the Federal Trade Commission and Internet service providers," 
said Assistant Attorney General Wray.  "We will not allow marketers who 
barrage the public with unwanted commercial e-mail to prey on consumers, 
businesses and families."

	A criminal complaint, unsealed yesterday, charges Christopher Chung, 
Mark Sadek, James J. Lin and Daniel J. Lin, all of West Bloomfield, 
Michigan.  Chung and Sadek were arrested in the Eastern District of 
Michigan, and released on bond after making a court appearance in 
Detroit.  The Lins have not been arrested at this time.
   	
	According to court documents, the four defendants named in the 
complaint are allegedly responsible for sending out hundreds of 
thousands of messages advertising medical and other products, which 
resulted in over 10,000 complaints to the Federal Trade Commission's 
unsolicited electronic mail database since Jan. 1, 2004.  The complaint 
also alleges that the defendants were responsible for devising a scheme 
to defraud others by selling these medical devices via the U.S. Mail by 
means of false and fraudulent representations, in violation of the mail 
fraud statute.

	Felony violations of the CAN-SPAM Act carry a penalty of up to three or 
five years' imprisonment. Violations of the mail fraud statute carry a 
penalty of up to 20 years' imprisonment.

	The charges outlined in the complaint are only accusations and the 
defendants are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

# # #

04-281

Posted by Declan McCullagh on Apr 30, 2004

Get a Politech feed through RSS or Atom

The Politech general information pages and photographs are copyrighted by Declan McCullagh. Original posts distributed to the mailing list are licensed under a Creative Commons License.