Scott Richter
Encyclopedia
Scott Richter is the CEO of Media Breakaway, formerly known as OptInRealBig.com LLC. Other related companies are Dynamic Dolphin and affiliate.com.
He paid $7 million to Microsoft in 2006 in a settlement arising out of a lawsuit alleging illegal spam activities. Richter was listed in the ROKSO top 100 spammers, but is no longer included there. His company once sent some 100 million emails a day. One of the most famous emails was the offer of most-wanted Iraqi playing cards
in 2003; Richter claims to have sold 40,000 decks before they were even printed.
New York Attorney General sued Richter in December 2003. Facing a $500 million judgment in Washington state from the Microsoft
case, in March 2005, OptInRealBig.com filed for bankruptcy
protection. It claimed to have assets of less than US$10 million and debts of more than $50 million. Microsoft's refusal to settle a $20 million claim based on Washington state spam law is what forced OptInRealBig to file for bankruptcy. Steven Richter, who is Scott Richter's father and President and General Counsel of Scott's company, commented "OptIn is profitable but for these lawsuits."
He was interviewed on The Daily Show
by Rob Corddry
on 30 March 2004.
In January 2007, his company Media Breakaway was sued by popular social networking website MySpace
for allegedly gaining access to members' accounts and using them to send millions of spam messages appearing to be from users' MySpace "friends". Steven Richter, President and General Counsel of the company, denied the allegations.
Media Breakaway is the owner of Dynamic Dolphin, Inc, an ICANN
accredited registrar who, according to KnujOn
, is one of the few Internet registrars
that serve the majority of spamvertised
web sites.
An arbitrator on June 16, 2008 awarded MySpace
$ 4.8 million in damages and $ 1.2 million in attorney's fees against "spam
king" Scott Richter and his Web marketing company, Media Breakaway LLC, of Westminster
, Colo., "for barraging MySpace members with unsolicited advertisements." The award was 5% of the amount demanded by MySpace. MySpace alleged that due to Scott, "some of the messages were sent from accounts whose sign-on information had been hijacked by phishing
."
The latest allegations against Media Breakaway are that they charge unsuspecting people with charges on their cellphone bill for supposedly free Ringtones.
He paid $7 million to Microsoft in 2006 in a settlement arising out of a lawsuit alleging illegal spam activities. Richter was listed in the ROKSO top 100 spammers, but is no longer included there. His company once sent some 100 million emails a day. One of the most famous emails was the offer of most-wanted Iraqi playing cards
Most-wanted Iraqi playing cards
In the 2003 invasion of Iraq by a United States-led coalition, the U.S. military developed a set of playing cards to help troops identify the most-wanted members of President Saddam Hussein's government, mostly high-ranking Baath Party members or members of the Revolutionary Command Council...
in 2003; Richter claims to have sold 40,000 decks before they were even printed.
New York Attorney General sued Richter in December 2003. Facing a $500 million judgment in Washington state from the Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
case, in March 2005, OptInRealBig.com filed for bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
protection. It claimed to have assets of less than US$10 million and debts of more than $50 million. Microsoft's refusal to settle a $20 million claim based on Washington state spam law is what forced OptInRealBig to file for bankruptcy. Steven Richter, who is Scott Richter's father and President and General Counsel of Scott's company, commented "OptIn is profitable but for these lawsuits."
He was interviewed on The Daily Show
The Daily Show
The Daily Show , is an American late night satirical television program airing each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central. The half-hour long show premiered on July 21, 1996, and was hosted by Craig Kilborn until December 1998...
by Rob Corddry
Rob Corddry
Robert William "Rob" Corddry is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his work as a former correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and for his starring role in the comedy film Hot Tub Time Machine...
on 30 March 2004.
In January 2007, his company Media Breakaway was sued by popular social networking website MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
for allegedly gaining access to members' accounts and using them to send millions of spam messages appearing to be from users' MySpace "friends". Steven Richter, President and General Counsel of the company, denied the allegations.
Media Breakaway is the owner of Dynamic Dolphin, Inc, an ICANN
ICANN
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is a non-profit corporation headquartered in Marina del Rey, California, United States, that was created on September 18, 1998, and incorporated on September 30, 1998 to oversee a number of Internet-related tasks previously performed directly...
accredited registrar who, according to KnujOn
KnujOn
KnujOn, "no junk" spelled backwards and pronounced "new john", is a project involved in Internet security. KnujOn targets spam at its root, attacking the illicit activities that spammers derive their revenue from. To that end, KnujOn runs an automated spam reporting tool.- History :KnujOn was...
, is one of the few Internet registrars
Domain name registrar
A domain name registrar is an organization or commercial entity, accredited by both ICANN and generic top-level domain registry to sell gTLDs and/or by a country code top-level domain registry to sell ccTLDs; to manage the reservation of Internet domain names in accordance with the guidelines of...
that serve the majority of spamvertised
Spamvertising
Spamvertising is the practice of sending E-mail spam, advertising a website. The word is a portmanteau of the words "spam" and "advertising".It also refers to vandalizing wikis, blogs and online forums with hyperlinks in order to get a higher search engine ranking for the vandal's website...
web sites.
An arbitrator on June 16, 2008 awarded MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
$ 4.8 million in damages and $ 1.2 million in attorney's fees against "spam
Spam (electronic)
Spam is the use of electronic messaging systems to send unsolicited bulk messages indiscriminately...
king" Scott Richter and his Web marketing company, Media Breakaway LLC, of Westminster
Westminster, Colorado
Westminster is a Home Rule Municipality in Adams and Jefferson counties in the U.S. state of Colorado. Westminster is a northwest suburb of Denver. The Westminster Municipal Center is located north-northwest of the Colorado State Capitol. The United States Census Bureau that the city population...
, Colo., "for barraging MySpace members with unsolicited advertisements." The award was 5% of the amount demanded by MySpace. MySpace alleged that due to Scott, "some of the messages were sent from accounts whose sign-on information had been hijacked by phishing
Phishing
Phishing is a way of attempting to acquire information such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication. Communications purporting to be from popular social web sites, auction sites, online payment processors or IT...
."
The latest allegations against Media Breakaway are that they charge unsuspecting people with charges on their cellphone bill for supposedly free Ringtones.