News Junk E-Mailer Said To Be Leaving Spam Business Usenet posting from Sanford Wallace shows a change of heart By Arik ‘ANFoRD WALLACE, the bulk e- mailer who became known as the spam king, announced last week he is abdicating his throne. Wallace, head of Philadelphia- based Cyber Promotions Inc., said ina Usenet posting and in pul reports that he was not only getting out of the junk e-mail business, but Calls to Cyber Promotions’ of- fices were not immediately re- tumed, and two phone numbers listed in the Philadelphia area un- der the name Sanford Wallace were disconnected. Wallace did not im- mediately respond to e-mail mes- sages sent to the address from which he sent the Usenet posting. Wallace had been working on a new venture, Global port legislation mak- Spam King Technologies | Mar ing spam illegal. i keting Inc., with his “Twill NEVER go = SAYS He" partner, WaltRines of back to spamming,” Quantum Communi- read the post. “I will support cations. GTMI was to continue to support . be based on an optin the Smith Bill—not anti-spam srrem tat wouldlet to spite the mar- legislation. users elect to receive keters—but to give e-mail ads, In the an- something back to the community. nouncement, Wallace said he was Period. There are no hidden agen- abandoning the venture. On Friday das. Lapologize for my past actions.” Rines confirmed Wallace's departure. ‘The Smith Bill, FLR. 1748, for- Rines said he plans to go forward. erly known as the Netizens Pro- Anti-spam activists did not seem tection Act and sponsored by Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), would equate ‘unsolicited commercial e-mail with unsolicited commercial faxes, which are already illegal. ‘The news came a week after Wal- lace was found liable for sending junk faxes to a Philadelphia busi- nesswoman and to an anti-spam ac- tivist. The court imposed damages ‘of $500 per incident, although Wal- lace said he plans an appeal. Last month, Wallace's company agreed to pay $2 million to EarthLink Network for sending spam to its subscribers. surprised by Wallace's announce- ‘ment. In fact, Ray Everett-Church, a Washington, D.C., lawyer and co- founder of the Coalition Against Un- solicited Commercial E-mail whom Wallace once called his top nemesis, was disappointed. “I think Sanford was on the verge of using a business model that everyone had been urg- ing him toward, and now he's getting out of the business,” he said. ‘JD. Falk, another co-founder of CAUCE, said Wallace had not been a source of spam for several months. “There are still hundreds of other spamimers yet to be stopped,” he said. ‘Once the source of as many as 25 million spam messages a day, Wal- lace’s firm has been a cyberspace pariah since Apex Global Informa- tion Services shut down his connec- tion to its service in October, follow- ing a well-publicized court battle. ‘CAUCE has been focusing on leg- islation. At the federal level, it sup- ports ELR. 1748, and it has been lob- bying for legislation in several states, including anew Washington State law agaZne To Lead It to IPO By Nelson ComMuNITY stTE GeoCrriEs last week turned to the publishing in- dustry in its search for a CEO who could guide the company through a successful initial public offering later this year. ‘The company chose Thomas Evans, 43, who is currently the president and publisher of U.S. News & World Report and Fast Company, as well as the president of Atlantic Monthly. He will become