Solidaritätsfont für die Verteidigung
Happy Oyster
http://www.intern.de/news/6934.html
<quote>
Vardan Kushnir, Leiter des American Language Center in Moskau, wurde
am Sonntag tot in seiner Moskauer Wohnung gefunden.
</quote>
Für die des Kyrillischen Unkundigen die anglikane Übersetzung:
http://mosnews.com/news/2005/07/25/spammerdead.shtml
<quote>
Russia’s Biggest Spammer Brutally Murdered in Apartment
Created: 25.07.2005 13:14 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 16:29 MSK
MosNews
Vardan Kushnir, notorious for sending spam to each and every citizen
of Russia who appeared to have an e-mail, was found dead in his Moscow
apartment on Sunday, Interfax reported Monday. He died after suffering
repeated blows to the head.
Kushnir, 35, headed the English learning centers the Center for
American English, the New York English Centre and the Centre for
Spoken English, all known to have aggressive Internet advertising
policies in which millions of e-mails were sent every day.
In the past angry Internet users have targeted the American English
centre by publishing the Center’s telephone numbers anywhere on the
Web to provoke telephone calls. The Center’s telephone was advertised
as a contact number for cheap sex services, or bargain real estate
sales.
Another attack involved hundreds of people making phone calls to the
American English Center and sending it numerous e-mails back, but
Vardan Kushnir remained sure of his right to spam, saying it was what
e-mails were for.
Under Russian law, spamming is not considered illegal, although
lawmakers are working on legal projects that could protect Russian
Internet users like they do in Europe and the U.S.
SEE ALSO
Russian Media Hails Spammer’s Murder — MosNews Commentary, July 26th,
2005
26.07.2005 15:17 MSK, MOSNEWS.COM
Russian Police Say Robbers Killed Spammer Kushnir
</quote>
http://www.mosnews.com/commentary/2005/07/26/spamassassin.shtml
<quote>
Uma Thurman on her way to the American Language Center. (cartoon from
LiveJournal) Right: an hourly portion of Russian spam
Russian Media Hails Spammer’s Murder
Created: 26.07.2005 12:43 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 13:13 MSK
Anton Nossik
MosNews.Com
Russia’s most (in)famous spammer, Vardan Kushnir, 35, was dead in his
apartment in downtown Moscow on Monday, July 25. Someone repeatedly
smashed his head with a heavy object, authorities say, and then
ransacked his entire apartment. The authorities have obviously got no
clue as to who that someone might have been.
And, as a matter of fact, they don’t seem to really care: every day
between 10 and 20 people meet a violent death in Russia’s capital, and
a significant part of those crimes remains unsolved (Russia’s Interior
Ministry reports 1,935 unsolved murders, 73,000 burglaries and 11,400
robberies between January and May in this year alone). There is no
reason for Moscow’s law enforcement officials to give Kushnir’s case
any special treatment, so they most probably won’t. But the
Moscow-based media is awash with comments and speculations, expounding
one simple, albeit largely irrational, theory: someone (ranging from
God almighty to an irate IT office worker) finally punished Vardan
Kushnir for his seemingly unstoppable spamming activities.
Indeed, the deceased must have been the most hated person among 17.6
million Internet users in Russia, whom he continuously spammed over
the last few years, sending out tons of email ads for his language
courses. These feelings are shared by many among the 20 million
Russian-speaking Internet users outside the country, whom he also
plagued with unsolicited ads, both text and graphical: despite
limiting its offers to Muscovites only, the American Language Center
did send mail to locations as remote as California, Canada or the
office network of the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot, in Israel.
Russian-language media, both online and offline, has made little
effort to conceal one central thought when dealing with the spammer’s
demise: that somehow the late Mr. Kushnir got what he deserved. “The
Spammer Had it Coming”, one headline reads. “Spam is Deadly”, “Ignoble
Death Becomes Russia’s Top Spammer”, “An Ultimate Solution to the Spam
Problem” - 84 Russian-language news captions on Kushnir’s murder,
retrieved by the Yandex News search engine within a day of the event,
seem to share the general feeling.
This jubilation is largely due to the fact that spamming is as good as
legal in Russia. Not only because of local lawmakers’ general
ignorance in IT issues, but also due to the executive branches’
reluctance to act upon laws already in effect. Specific antispam
legislation hasn’t been enacted in Russia yet, but there are at least
three articles in Russia’s Criminal Code dealing with computer crime —
database tampering, unauthorized access to protected systems and
networks, creation and dissemination of harmful software — which could
be used in specific cases to deal with particular spam attacks, to
track, charge and indict at least those who send out viruses, hack
corporate mailservers or use stolen proprietary email databases for
spamming purposes.
Likewise, there are laws in Russia, regulating the dissemination and
content of ads, and local spammers have never bothered to comply.
Unfortunately, none of these laws has ever been enforced on spammers.
Law enforcement officers happen to be the most typical representatives
of Russian bureaucracy: unless they’re economically motivated by the
plaintiff, or act on orders from the very top, they will use any
pretext imaginable to avoid doing their duty. And in the case of
spammers they are very successful in doing nothing.
In the particular case of Vardan Kushnir, the Internet community
spared no effort to discrupt his activities, engaging help from all
sorts of authorities. Kushnir’s personal data was posted webwide; the
deputy minister of communications (himself the target of unsolicited
language-learning ads) recorded a message, urging American Language
Center to stop spamming, and Rambler, one of Russia’s biggest Internet
holdings, set up a calling system in its office, that played the
message non-stop to the ALC call-center operators and answering
machines. Finally, a Moscow-based Internet lawyer Anton Sergo filed a
formal complaint against Vardan Kushnir with the Antitrust Authority
(in charge of the enforcement of ad laws). Kushnir failed to show up
at any hearings, and administrative proceedings were started against
him for non-compliance. Then the spammer promptly changed his mind and
came to an antitrust hearing, claiming he had absolutely no idea who
might be sending out all those innumerable ads for his business. The
case was closed.
Given all this sad experience, and the constant increase in the number
of unsolicited emails clogging Russia’s network traffic, one can
easily imagine the feelings of a typical Russian Internet user,
witnessing his very own and personal Inbox steadily reduced to another
edition of a Trash folder. Joining the spamming industry in Russia is
dirt cheap: any business can afford to mailbomb a million users for
$100, and any individual can buy a software bundle, complete with mail
address databases, starting from $20, to send out his CV, advertise
his flat for rent, or sell a used car. Little wonder, that many
spam-fighting tools, such as Spamcop, offer its users an option to ban
any mail from the RU domain altogether, and thousands of Russian SMTP
servers (including those of large ISP networks) occasionally make it
to major international relay-blocking lists, due to spammers’
exploits. Which means that any mail originating from the Russian users
of those servers gets trashed automatically, without notice to either
the sender or the recipient.
It’s little wonder, then, that Vardan Kushnir became as popular a
character among Russian-speaking Internet users, as Lord Voldemort
must be among Hogwarts’ fans. And a tale of some anonymous ’Harry
Potter’ paying him a private visit on a warm July morning produces
quite a predictable sensation among the audience. Of course, everybody
understands, that spam will not stop with Kushnir’s demise — it will
persist for years to come, exactly the way Lord Voldemort finds his
way back into the picture with every new installment of the Harry
Potter saga. But this time, the magic wand has for once dealt a deadly
blow to the arch-villain, and there seems to be no option left for the
spectators, than to hail the magic.
SEE ALSO
25.07.2005 13:14 MSK, MOSNEWS.COM
Russia\'s Biggest Spammer Brutally Murdered in Apartment
</quote>
http://www.mosnews.com/news/2005/07/25/spammerdead.shtml
<quote>
Russia’s Biggest Spammer Brutally Murdered in Apartment
Created: 25.07.2005 13:14 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 16:29 MSK
MosNews
Vardan Kushnir, notorious for sending spam to each and every citizen
of Russia who appeared to have an e-mail, was found dead in his Moscow
apartment on Sunday, Interfax reported Monday. He died after suffering
repeated blows to the head.
Kushnir, 35, headed the English learning centers the Center for
American English, the New York English Centre and the Centre for
Spoken English, all known to have aggressive Internet advertising
policies in which millions of e-mails were sent every day.
In the past angry Internet users have targeted the American English
centre by publishing the Center’s telephone numbers anywhere on the
Web to provoke telephone calls. The Center’s telephone was advertised
as a contact number for cheap sex services, or bargain real estate
sales.
Another attack involved hundreds of people making phone calls to the
American English Center and sending it numerous e-mails back, but
Vardan Kushnir remained sure of his right to spam, saying it was what
e-mails were for.
Under Russian law, spamming is not considered illegal, although
lawmakers are working on legal projects that could protect Russian
Internet users like they do in Europe and the U.S.
SEE ALSO
Russian Media Hails Spammer’s Murder — MosNews Commentary, July 26th,
2005
26.07.2005 15:17 MSK, MOSNEWS.COM
Russian Police Say Robbers Killed Spammer Kushnir
</quote>
http://www.mosnews.com/news/2005/07/26/kushnirclonidine.shtml
<quote>
Russian Police Say Robbers Killed Spammer Kushnir
Created: 26.07.2005 15:17 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 15:17 MSK
MosNews
The murder of Russia’s biggest spammer Vardan Kushnir was not
connected with his Internet activity, but with a straightforward
robbery, Moscow investigators reported.
Kushnir, 35, was found dead in his Moscow apartment on Sunday. He died
after suffering repeated blows to the head. Investigators, quoted by
the Kommersant newspaper, said this was not a contract murder or
revenge for spamming. “Things are simpler. He became a victim of
clonidine. For now, this is the only theory.”
At the scene, investigators discovered soporific, a sleep inducer, in
a glass and a woman’s dressing gown and blouse. Apparently, the
spammer had met three girls in a club called the Hungry Duck, and
invited them to his apartment. The girls then poured soporific into
his wine, but it is suppected that the dose was insufficient, and that
Kushnir woke up when the girls’ accomplices arrived to rob his house.
During the ensuing scuffle, he was killed. The robbers took his credit
cards, laptop, digital video camera, gold and money. On Monday, police
detained one of the suspected girls.
Kushnir headed the English learning centers, which included the Center
for American English, the New York English Center and the Center for
Spoken English, all known to have extremely aggressive Internet
advertising policies which featured sending millions of e-mails every
day.
In the past angry Internet users had retaliated against the American
English centre by publishing the Center’s telephone numbers
extensively throughout the Web to provoke telephone calls. The
Center’s telephone was advertised as a contact number for cheap sex
services, or bargain real estate sales. Another tactic involved
hundreds of people making phone calls to the American English Center
and sending it numerous e-mails. Nevertheless, Vardan Kushnir remained
confident of his right to spam, saying it was what e-mails were for.
Center for Spoken English officials declined to comment on the news of
Kushnir’s murder.
Under Russian law, spamming is not considered illegal, although
lawmakers are working on projects that could protect Russian Internet
users in ways similar to the U.S. and Europe.
SEE ALSO
Russian Media Hails Spammer’s Murder — MosNews Commentary, July 26th,
2005
25.07.2005 13:14 MSK, MOSNEWS.COM
Russia\'s Biggest Spammer Brutally Murdered in Apartment
</quote>
Im Sinne ausgleichender Gerechtigkeit zitiere ich die
russisch/englischen Texte vollständig.
Für die Anwaltkosten der schlagkräftigen Diebe rege ich hiermit einen
Soldaritätsfont an.
Bei Hunderten von Milliarden Euro jährlichem Schaden durch Spam sollte
es jedem von uns schon einen Obolus wert sein, daß der Gerechtigkeit
genüge getan wird.
Für eine Bürgermiliz gegen Spam !
Mit allerfreundlichstem Gruß
Aribert Deckers
--
"Wer kennt Aribert Deckers?"