Solving Spam Problem The Russian Way

Russia’s most notorious spammer, Vardan Kushnir, 35, was found dead in his apartment in downtown Moscow on Monday, July 25. Someone repeatedly smashed his head with a heavy object and then ransacked his entire apartment according to authorities.

Vardan Kushnir was arguably the most hated person among 17.6 million Internet users in Russia, whom he continuously spammed over the last few years. 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.

The deputy minister of communications (who himself was 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.

Spamming is not illegal in Russia. However 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.

Many are wondering if it was spamming that ultimately was the cause of his demise as opposed to what may as well have been a burglary. Every day between 10 and 20 people meet a violent death in Moscow, and a significant part of those crimes remains unsolved.

Looking at the jubiliation reports from all over Russian media, I wonder if the spammers realize how much people hate them everywhere everyday. If only they will listen.

via TechDirt

Update: Spamming was not the cause of his murder unless you believe in Karma theory.

According to the a Moscow newspaper (Kommersant) police said Kushnir met three women in a club, and invited them to his apartment. The women then spiked his drink. When Kushnir woke up to find the women’s visitors taking credit cards, a laptop, money, and other items, he was bludgeoned to death, the paper said.
I reckon he is as intelligent as Natalee. Nobody told them not to entertain (or be entertained by) strangers.