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Title: ‘Cajun king of spam’ stirs pot of controversy ,  USA Today, JUN 25, 2003

Outspoken bulk e-mailer defends his lucrative business

Section: Money, Pg. 01b

SLIDELL, La. — Ronnie Scelson has a gun by his computer, a mean crawfish stew recipe and a bone to pick with those lawmakers and e-mail cops clamoring to can spam.

“I hate spam as much as the next guy. What I do is not illegal,” the bulk e-mailer says. “It’s the people who spam sex, viagra and get-rich-quick schemes that give commercial e-mailers a bad name.”

In his secretive business world, such bluster qualifies as a manifesto. But Scelson, 30, dubbed the “Cajun king of spam,” is no ordinary bulk e-mailer. While others would rather be heard only through a cascade of e-mails, the cherubic Scelson speaks out — offering a rare peek into the life of one of the nation’s biggest spammers, say anti-spam activists and Internet service providers (ISPs).

What it reveals is a fidgety chain smoker in a cat-and-mouse game with anti-spam forces. Scelson says he spits out 60 million to 70 million ads a day, or about 2 billion a month. “I can reach more people in one month than those who watch the Super Bowl,” he says.

The avid Scooby-Doo fan, a high school dropout who has achieved riches, has also emerged in recent months as a central figure, and target, in the national war against spam, the unwanted e-mail that clogs the Internet, infuriates consumers and last year cost businesses an estimated $10 billion in lost productivity.

Last month, Scelson testified before the U.S. Senate about spam. He has been threatened by anti-spam activists, who often post his home addresses and phone number on the Internet. His industry faces a raft of new anti-spam legislation, stepped-up crackdown efforts by law-enforcement officials and more aggressive legal action by ISPs. Authorities also are plotting to better protect the vulnerable e-mail servers that marketers exploit to route messages anonymously.

Yet Scelson continues to openly defend the profession. “I’m like Eminem,” he says. “We built ourselves from nothing and became famous.”

An estimated 2 trillion spam messages are expected this year — more than 300 for every person on the planet. About 90% of it comes from the 150 biggest spammers, which includes Scelson, says Spamhaus Project, an anti-spam Web site. There are an estimated 2,000 spammers in the USA.

Four out of five children receive spam, says a study released this month by security-software maker Symantec. A third of the 1,000 kids polled, ages 7 to 18, said the e-mail made them “uncomfortable.”

“What they (spammers) do is tantamount to dynamite fishing,” says John Reid, who volunteers at Spamhaus Project. “They destroyed e-mail as an advertising medium and are about to destroy it as a communications medium.”

But Scelson says he is a responsible bulk e-mailer.

He says he gives consumers the option to be removed from mailing lists, does not hide behind forged e-mail addresses, does not bounce e-mail through foreign relays and leaves contact information on his bulk mail. He defends his business in online discussions and fears federal legislation won’t be applied fairly. If a federal anti-spam bill is passed, Scelson says, he will move all his operations offshore.

Scelson also argues select consumers want spam, and some research backs him. Commercial e-mail ads produce more than $7.1 billion in sales annually, the Direct Marketing Association says.

Most of all, Scelson fixates on the “hypocrisy” of AOL, MSN and other large ISPs, who he says inundate subscribers with junk e-mail. America Online spokesman Nicholas Graham fires back: “Consider the source. We take what he says with a grain of salt.”

Living well

From his home office, where a dozen rack-mounted computer servers hum 24 hours a day, Scelson sends millions of e-mails to 50 or so computer servers in the USA, China, South America and Europe. It costs $20,000 a month to pump out e-mail hawking everything from insurance to toys to lingerie. Software plows through 165,000 e-mail addresses an hour, searching for the roughly 16% that are active. Automated e-mail is then sent to the accounts, asking subscribers if they want spam. On average, only 3,000 of 5 million respond “yes,” Scelson says. He says he continues to send e-mail pitches to those accounts and leaves others alone.

Still, that’s enough for Scelson to charge several dozen clients $10,000 to $50,000 a month to funnel their ads to consumers. He estimates he makes $30,000 to $40,000 in profit in a good month. A staff of 16 part-time technicians helps Scelson fend off hack attacks from anti-spammers and maintain his far-flung operations.

He, his wife and their three children live in a five-bedroom home with a swimming pool in a leafy, upper-class neighborhood 40 miles east of New Orleans near the Mississippi border. A pool table fills one room; in another is a big-screen TV and state-of-the-art stereo system.

That once seemed inconceivable to Scelson, who has an eighth-grade education. At 18, he worked at a Baton Rouge computer shop and began selling computers. Competition with low-cost PC makers Dell and Hewlett-Packard forced him to try something else. A bulk e-mailer gave Scelson his first taste of the industry as a technician in 1995. Scelson, whose thirst for fame may be exceeded only by his chatty nature, was hooked.

‘Deceptive’ behavior

Critics, though, say Scelson represents the dark underside of commercial e-mail. Because of his profession, he says, he regularly receives obscene late-night phone calls and other threats. A recent e-mail from “Gorbachev” warns: “Scum like Scelson will never stop spamming until they are physically unable to do so.” Another, from “sik puppy,” asks, “Why does this vermin have a pulse?”

“You wonder why spammers use aliases, change addresses and don’t talk?” says Scelson, taking a drag from a cigarette. “I didn’t own a gun until recently. But now I have several, including a 9mm next to my computer.”

His wife, Amy, 28, chimes in. “People are nuts to get so mad that they threaten someone’s life over a piece of virtual mail.”

As of now, no major ISP is suing Scelson. But they have declared open season on other spammers. Last week, in its most aggressive action yet, Microsoft sued 15 alleged spammers in the USA and United Kingdom. It, like AOL, spends millions annually on anti-spam efforts. EarthLink has pending legal action against what it says are more than 80 spammers.

Tuesday, Microsoft said it has created a specialized group of about 20 researchers and programmers to develop technology to fight spam. “Like almost everyone, I receive a lot of spam every day, much of it offering to help me get out of debt or get rich quick,” Gates, the world’s richest man, wrote in an e-mail to customers and partners. “It’s ridiculous.”

Federal and state lawmakers, meanwhile, are drawing up harsh anti-spam bills. Under a proposed RID Spam Act, ISPs could sue offending spammers for up to $500,000 — and a federal court could triple that to $1.5 million. Violators also face imprisonment.

“The difference between legitimate marketers and spammers is crystal clear,” says Trevor Hughes, executive director of Network Advertising Initiative. It helps companies deliver marketing e-mail. “Spammers like Scelson forge headers, spoof e-mail addresses and crack anti-spam filter software. They do everything they can to be deceptive and avoid accountability.”

Scelson denies the charges.

But even while Scelson defends his industry, his peers would prefer he keep a lower profile.

“Given all the crap that’s going on with spam, it’s probably not wise to have a high profile,” says Alan Ralsky, 58, who calls himself “the Godfather of spam.” The gruff West Bloomfield, Mich., resident says he sends 30 million e-mails abroad each day peddling jewelry and vacation giveaways.

Sometimes, Scelson, who can be as earnest as he is blunt, wonders whether the fight is worth it. He says he’s been booted off AOL, AT&T, Broadwing and other networks, and has sued to stay on others. Rising costs and legal fees forced him to file Chapter 13 bankruptcy court protection in March, claiming $500,000 in debt. And he’s created at least 30 companies over the years.

“The ISPs have tons of money and time. How do I fight them?” says Scelson, pacing his office. While later shoveling spices and vegetables into crawfish stew in his backyard, he fantasizes about life after spam.

What he really wants is to create online video commercials or a free e-mail service with banner ads. He chuckles at the irony of producing ads that companies and consumers would willingly pay for.

“I’ve become famous because of spam, but eventually people will forget about spam,” he says. “That’s a fact of life.”

TEXT OF BIO BOX BEGINS HERE

About Ronnie Scelson

Age: 30.

Education: High school dropout.

Residence: Slidell, La.

Family: Wife, three children.

Average daily spam e-mails sent: 60 million to 70 million messages.

Types of ads: Home mortgage, insurance, teddy bears.

Interests: Everything Scooby-Doo, computers, cars.

TEXT OF INFO BOX BEGINS HERE

Top bulk e-mailers

Ronnie Scelson, who sends 60 million to 70 million spam e-mails a day, is among the USA’s best known.

Among the others:

Avg. daily spam

Type of spam

Eddy Marin, 41

250 million

viagra , mail-order brides, loans, computer software.

Brendan Battles, 31

50 million

CDs of e-mail addresses.

Alan Ralsky, 58

30 million

Vacation giveaways, mortgages, work-at-home opportunities.

Sources: Spamhaus Project, USA TODAY research

(c) USA TODAY, 2003

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Source: USA Today, JUN 25, 2003

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