‘I need a one way ticket to Tijuana!’ You might think that if something happens and you want to escape. But if you live in Canada, just sit back and relax – you have nothing to worry about. Canada is known for their lazy laws for certain types of crimes, especially ‘new’ ones (like the latest incidents of financial fraud and spam). Last week, one of my colleagues posted a blog titled ‘Are Canadian spammers above the law?‘ It made me think: are Canadian spammers really above the law, or is the law just … non-existent?
You could say that it’s almost legal to spam in Canada, and, according to past judgments, to commit web attacks too. Here, spammers just become famous! Take Montreal’s Michael Calce, for example, better known as ‘Mafiaboy1.’ His notorious activities in 2000 brought down several big websites such as those belonging to Yahoo, Amazon and CNN. He was sentenced to 8 months of open custody, restricted from using the Internet, and had to pay a small fine (he was a minor at the time). Just last week, Mickaël Mancheron from Saguenay, Quebec, was sentenced to 15 months ‘at home’ with no Internet or computer access for 3 years after having controlled over 72,000 computers in 54 countries. Damages from his activities were estimated at $7 million (for the cost of PC repair and reinstallation). Judging by his picture in this article2, he really looks proud of his work.
So lets’ review: here you can become famous and avoid being punished (other than a little slap on the wrist..)!
The story of Adam Guerbuez, who also lives in Canada, is a bit different. In 2008, he was fined $873 million in the US for sending over 4 million adult-content spam through Facebook. Of course, the CAN-SPAM act is valid in the US so you can’t hide from it! unless you’re not in the US! Mr Guerbuez lives in Montreal, Quebec, so – nothing to worry about, right? Facebook has asked the Quebec courts to enforce the judgment against him, and the decision is due very soon.
I donned my ‘neutral’ hat and asked Adam Guerbuez if he would answer a few questions for us. He agreed, but we obviously had to avoid the word ‘spam’ since the judgment is still pending here in Quebec.
Q: Mr Guerbuez, you are called ‘The $873M Man,’ were included in the Guinness World Records 2010, you have a great life and escaped the US judgment against you. Your blog is called ‘It ain’t easy!’ Do you say this whole story brings more good things than bad things?
A: I can only thank Facebook for introducing me to the world and using such an outrageous lawsuit against me that has allowed me to appear in headline news all over the world since 2008. I have been approached by several authors who want to work with me on writing books about the whole scene and my life, also have done many television and radio interviews that have been exciting and rewarding. There are currently talks even about a full feature film about my life. All this free publicity has also been the reason that many large corporate sponsors have contacted me to assist them with viral promotion to bring their product sales to the next level. I am seen as an elite marketing genius in the eyes of many who seek me out for business relationships. I can honestly tell you, this whole matter has not brought me any negative response whatsoever.
However, Facebook has repeatedly made public statements that I am BANNED for LIFE from using Facebook! Am I supposed to cry now? How will I live without Facebook?
Q: How did they get you?
A: If you read the public court documents on my case, you will see that Facebook invested a large sum of money hiring private investigators to follow me around town while I did my everyday deeds, such as having my morning coffee at Tim Horton’s, then cruising around town, having lunch at a fine establishment, then hitting up a gentleman’s club in the late afternoon, shopping at the finest boutiques and hitting up the VIP lounges of the strip clubs and cigar lounges by nighttime. They even sent their private investigators into a strip club one time where they had asked to join me in my private VIP section. I took advantage of that situation by getting several drinks for myself and an associate I was with, all that the private investigator offered to pay for. He tried to get me to talk about Facebook and financial details, but he ended up getting nothing, just paying for several glasses of Remy Martin X.O. for me and my associate.
Another time that was fun with their investigators was when they followed me to a coffee shop, I had gone in and bought three coffees, then I went right up to the vehicle where the two private investigators were sitting in the parking lot and knocked on their window and said, ‘Here you go boys, coffee is on me today, thanks for keeping an eye on me, I feel safe.’ Needless to say, they were not too amused with me but still accepted the coffee and stopped tailing me for the rest of that day.
After they served me with court papers in 2008, they told the media that I was hard to find and that my vehicles went off the map, trying to make it look like I went into hiding. I quickly contacted the media to straighten out that outright lie, I even put my public actions right on my personal blog website at http://www.adamguerbuez.com so that the truth could be known. I have no reason to hide from anyone or anything. Facebook just wrote that in the hopes to send a message to the public that their big bad lawsuit had a strong effect on me, sending me into hiding. It is very important that the public realize that the Facebook lawsuit has had absolutely NO NEGATIVE effects on me at all and in reality, I am pleased to say, it has been 100% positive.
Q: Do you consider yourself a bad person?
A: Not at all. And as anyone can see, if you read the general public’s opinions of me in comments that they make on many of the news stories that are all over the Internet, the public refers to me as more of a victim of nonsense, and in many cases makes me out to be a martyr. I am a kind hearted person, always have been. Have many friends and hangers on. I am treated with the greatest respect wherever I go and I give respect to those around me. I am sure Facebook would love it if they could manage to successfully turn the public against me but that has clearly backfired on them in this case. When I meet people for the first time who have read about me or seen me on the news, they shake my hand or give me high fives with a smile.
Q: Given the fact that some serious crimes, including physical aggression, are sometimes punished with less than $50K fines, what you think about being sued for $873M for sending electronic packets?
A: It is sickening when you see that people get away with mere slaps on the wrist for raping, robbing, torturing, murder and so many other hideous crimes. But god forbid someone is accused of sending messages to sell a product that can help your penis grow, that is the end of the world and merits an 873 million dollar fine as punishment!
Q: You seem to laugh at Canadian laws, do you think law C-28 will really solve the problem?
A: What problem will it solve really? It will just make corporations who promote through email and other aggressive means go offshore and out of the reach of this new Canadian law if it does become a new law.
Why is Canada spending all this time and tax payer dollars to bring on such new laws when millions of Canadians have been getting bombarded by paper fliers and brochures in their home mailbox for such things as pizza delivery menus and credit card applications? It is insane how much junk mail we get at home in our daily snail mail. How many trees are being cut down to print all this junk mail, how is this affecting the environment, I am sure it is not in a positive way. Is this not spam, is this not a big problem? I guess the government has special interests at hand when it comes to the dealings of Canada Post so they turn the other cheek and ignore the huge problem that clearly threatens our environment. I guess this is not as sensational as someone sending electronic messages.
Q: What do you expect from Quebec decision?
A: The trial in Quebec Superior Court two months ago went very well for me. I expect to be pleased with the results when the Judge’s decision is rendered.
To know more about ex C-27 and future C-28 law, check this Globe & Mail article:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/were-still-going-to-get-spam/article1441181/
References:
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MafiaBoy
2. http://www.canoe.com/infos/societe/archives/2010/06/20100602-191932.html
People are just jealous that he’s in the spotlight and gaining more fame than anything else. Way to go bro.
Review the latest developments in this story as Guerbuez gets nailed by Quebec court with a severe ruling turning him into the MINUS 873M$ man:
http://staging.vircom.com/security/adam-guerbuez-follow-up-lost-his-case/