Meet the Guy Who Quit His Job to Sue Spammers

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DankCashJohn

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Oct 24, 2010
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Daniel Balsam used to be a marketer. Then he found something he wanted to do more: Sue spammers for a living. So he quit his job and went to law school—and he's made $1 million doing it. You want to know how great America is? This is how great America is: Not only can you make a living off of peoples' penis-size insecurities, you can also make a living—a good living!—by suing those same people. Like Dan Balsam:
From San Francisco Superior Court small claims court to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Balsam, based in San Francisco, has filed many lawsuits, including dozens before he graduated law school in 2008, against e-mail marketers he says violate anti-spamming laws.
His many victories are mere rain drops in the ocean considering that Cisco Systems Inc. estimates that there are 200 billion spam messages circulating a day, accounting for 90 percent of all e-mail.
Still, Balsam settles enough lawsuits and collects enough from judgments to make a living. He has racked up well in excess of $1 million in court judgments and lawsuit settlements with companies accused of sending illegal spam.
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And like any real American, Balsam has mortal enemy: Defense lawyer Bennet Kelley, who created a website to rival Balsam's (DAN HATES SPAM - A Public Service Website was the original; Kelly's version was www.danhatespam.com). Kelley says that Balsam is "exploiting" the anti-spam laws under which he files his lawsuits.
Balsam usually sues based on violations of California's anti-spam laws, which makes it illegal for companies to fake noncommercial email headers and subject lines (one he received four times was "Hello my name is Rebecca, I love you") and requires that companies provide "opt-out" options. (He has more than 100 email addresses, theoretically to better position himself for lawsuits.)
Exploitation? Probably! But it's hard to find sympathy for spammers. And it wouldn't be this great country without a little bit of exploitation.
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Meet the Guy Who Quit His Job to Sue Spammers
 


ricdes said:
what a fag
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Daniel Balsam:
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schockergd said:
I'll hate to see what happens to him when no one is spamming from the US anymore and doing it internationally where he can't do squat.
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Better hope he left his last job in good graces. It said he was a marketer. If he was independent or into internet stuff I guess he'll have no problem going back.

But seriously, you're right. In a few years almost no spam operations will be going on in the US anymore.
 
I think he's set bros. He's already made 1 millie + has spam monies left over. Even if tomorrow all spammers moved to Sri Lanka or the government banned him from the BAR, he's still going to live a pretty decent life.
 
The problem with this as with many other renegade anti-spammers is they go after the low hanging fruit.

This guy will blast anyone who mails his "trap" email address.

The people who he sues have a public whois, registered businesses, and generally follow all anti-spam rules.

The real problem are the botnets. I dont see anyone spending copious amounts of time weeding those buggers out.

The reason? They are impossibly hard to to locate and sue! Thus there is no money to be made from finding these guys.

Dan can round up as many marketers as we can get a a hold of and call himself a "freedom fighter". Im sure hes racked up a bunch of dough from sueing businesses that refuse to show up to court for his crazy lawsuits.

This is nothing more than court ordered extortion.
 
We should call Bofu out of the woodworks and get him to get his domain banned. Haha that would be rad
 
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