Robert Soloway, dubbed the "Spam King", was sentenced in Washington yesterday, according to an article in the Seattle Intelligencer.

For his misdeeds, Soloway was sentenced to just under four years. Notably, Soloway was the second person to be prosecuted under the Can-Spam Act. It should also be noted that the prosecutors asked for about twice the time in prison and with good behavior, Soloway will probably only serve about half of the sentence he received.

Like most of the many "Spam Kings" out there, Soloway allegedly used a botnet (an army of zombie computers) to saturate the electronic universe with e-trash, including advertisements from commercial clients. To give everybody an idea of the scope of Soloway's activity, he allegedly sent out 90 million e-mails in a three-month period.

The made me wonder if anyone is looking at the commercial clients. Of course, everyone knows that "Spam Kings" send out a lot more than commercial advertisements, including a variety of scams designed to steal from unwary people. They also tout knock-off drugs, merchandise, software, and porn.

Spam is also used to deliver malicious software, which can steal all your personal and financial information. Ironically, spam also delivers malware designed to turn a system (part of a botnet), which is then used to send out even more spam.

In fact, spam designed to send out even more spam best describes Soloway's operation. Using a company, Newport Internet Marketing Corporation (NIM), he offered a broadcast e-mail software product and broadcast e-mail services. His website promised a full refund if a customer wasn't satisfied, however in reality, if anyone ever complained they were threatened with financial charges and collection agencies.

According to the Department of Justice press release, one customer tried to complain about the amount of spam he was getting and Soloway's response was to send him even more spam. The press release also mentions that he willfully failed to pay his taxes after earning more than $300,000 in 2005.