Opinion by Consumer Advocate Tim Bolen
There’s no question in my mind that the Spamhaus/SPEWS Project is a criminal conspiracy designed to damage legitimate American businesses’ and social activist’s ability to communicate on the word wide internet. The Spamhaus “volunteers,” and the SPEWS manipulators, hide to protect their identities from those victims to avoid both criminal and civil legal actions against themselves.
But that’s over. What Spamhaus/SPEWS is doing is a series of criminal acts, and the US government is VERY interested in gathering data. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has already opened an investigation, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has teamed up with the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C) to create a special agency to deal with these sort of assaults on the American economy. Below, I’ll show you how to file your own complaint. And I advise you to do just that.
What to do first…
Gather information.
(1) If Spamhaus or SPEWS blocks your IP address, or whatever, then go to their website and copy the page to your hard drive and make a record of the URL link as evidence. Then follow their directions given on their website to supposedly solve the problem. Gather ALL of the responses, and make electronic copies to your hard drive as evidence – even when they say to you “I’m not actually SPEWS, but…” They really are SPEWS, but are just trying to avoid criminal and civil legal actions. Stay polite when you contact them – even though their responses will be completely offensive. Keep all of your contact emails, also, as evidence of your attempt to “reasonably” solve an issue.
It is important to calmly keep asking more questions so as to get as many responses from as many different individuals as possible – you are now finding the conspirators, even though they use “fake” names. Keep in mind that State and Federal agencies can EASILY get the real names of these operators and trace them to their hiding places.
(2) Look up what State laws have been broken. Almost every State has laws protecting your lawful computer system. Do this to understand just exactly what is happening to you so you understand the depth of the injury to you and the American public. You can look up your State laws by clicking here.
The Federal Statutes that Spamhaus/SPEWS ignores are listed here, and you can click on each one to see how, and if, it applies to you. Four of the important Federal Statutes to understand are 18 USC 1030, 241, 1951, and 371.
18 USC 1030 is directly related to computers used by the US government, financial institutions, and those of us engaged in Interstate Commerce or Communications (that’s you and me). And, yes, the US government prosecutes these kinds of cases.
Keep in mind that filing a criminal complaint against these people does not force you to give up your rights to civil action against these same people – you retain those rights. Also, you do not need to WARN the Spamhaus/SPEWS conspirators of your criminal filing. Just do it.
Assemble the formal complaint for both Federal and State agencies…
Get organized.
(1) Download a copy of the Formal Complaint on the Internet Crime Complaint Center. Read, carefully, the information they provide on how to fill out the form. When you read it don’t be dissuaded by the seeming focus on “internet fraud.” The form is designed for their biggest area of complaints. This is the form to use.
(2) Use the form, at first, as a “guideline only” on how to lay out your complaint for both Federal and State agencies. Remember, you can file the same complaint with your local law enforcement agency (if you have a State law about protecting computers) and two separate Federal agencies (the Internet Crime Complaint Center) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) .
(3) Use your word processor to tell your story – so that you can then copy the story to the online form when you are ready. Be concise – and leave your angry words out. Use the same calmness you used when you gathered information. Remember that the people on the receiving end of the complaint are here to help you – and they get a lot of complaints. Be nice. Especially, since you will be including references to those “nasty” communications you received from the Spamhaus/SPEWS conspirators. Let “their own words” work for you.
(4) It is important, in your complaint, to indicate which State or Federal laws you feel may have been broken in your case. That’s why you go look them up. So list them. Agencies get a lot of complaints – and many of them are spurious. By listing the laws that may have been broken your complaint goes towards the top of the pile.
(5) It is important to include in your complaint a statement that your computer system is “lawful, and engaged in interstate commerce or communications.” This gives your complaint “criminal felony” status.
File the complaints…
(1) File the first complaint online at www.IC3.gov. Just follow the directions and copy your story into the appropriate box from your word processor. Keep your word processor file and make a note of the date and time, on it, of the time you filed the complaint. Make certain to title your complaint as “Regarding the Spamhaus/SPEWS Project.” This will get your complaint into the hands of the right department quickly.
(2) File the same complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. You can do this online by clicking here. Make certain to title your complaint as “Regarding the Spamhaus/SPEWS Project.” This will get your complaint into the hands of the right department quickly. Make a record of the date and time you filed your complaint.
(3) File the same complaint with your local law enforcement agency. No matter how small your agency, they are connected to other State agencies which they will pass your complaint to. Make a record of the date and time you filed your complaint. Their phone numbers are in the front of your phone book. Call them.
In summary…
You do not have to be as detailed in your complaint as I was, but try to give as much information, up front, as you can, and make it clear that you have evidence available. You can read a concise summary of their activities to damage me, by accessing a copy of one of the Affidavits I filed with State and Federal law enforcement agencies. Click here.
Be prepared to sit back and wait. The US government works ponderously. Your complaint will eventually end up on a desk with other complaints about the Spamhaus/SPEWS Project. Be ready to provide copies of those files you kept to an Investigator, or two or three.
Tim Bolen – Consumer Advocate