A Weblog About Topics and Issues Discussed in the Book Spam Kings by Brian McWilliams

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January 24, 2006

Penis-pill marketer sues anti-spammer

In the latest round of lawsuits against anti-spammers, Greg Tift, operator of MK Supplements, is suing Mark Ferguson, owner of a company called Ferguson Graphics, for malicious harrassment. Greg Tift

Seems Tift (photo, right), whose products include MaxxLength penis pills, is upset over some Internet postings made by Ferguson. The posts in question include this one made to the Nanae newsgroup on Usenet in December.

Tift's lawsuit in Washington's King County Superior Court alleges that Ferguson (pictured with bowtie below) has engaged in "malicious postings for the sole purpose of causing personal harm and torte business interference." Tift further asserts that Ferguson's postings have endangered minors, Tift, and innocent third parties. Tift has asked the court for an injunction and legal fees, as well as "additional relief as is just and proper."

ferguson What's weird is that the most revealing Usenet postings about Tift are these two (here and here) apparently from a former MK Supplements employee who calls himself "Jim Jam."

I spoke with Tift by phone earlier this month. He told me he has written to Google, formally requesting that the offensive postings be removed. I tried explaining to him that Google doesn't control all of Usenet. I mentioned he might want to read up on the case of George Alan "Dr. Fatburn" Moore, which is covered in Spam Kings.

Tift claims he never sends spam himself and denies he is a "notorious spammer," yet he acknowledged he's being sued for spamming by Microsoft in King County Court. Tift claims that he recently had a settlement conference with Microsoft's attorneys, at which he said he would gladly close his business down if they paid him $495,000. "They got up and walked out," reports Tift.

When I asked him about allegations that he's in business with a Top-200 spammer named Paul Boes, Tift said Boes was "a victim of his past" and was actually "hard working and honest."

According to Jim Jam, the anonymous Usenet poster, Boes runs MK Supplments' spammer affiliate system, known as MKBucks. Last March, someone representing MKBucks posted a message on the SpecialHam spammers' forum soliciting information about users of Microsoft's Hotmail service.

Tift contradicted assertions by Jim Jam and others that MK Supplements is owned by Michael Kerr, a Seattle carpet store owner. Tift told me MK's corporate structure is confidential, but he assured me that "no one else is involved in the business."

Posted by brian at January 24, 2006 12:40 PM

Comments

So a seller of fraudulent penis pills says that a known spammer is "hard working and honest"?

Posted by: Jim Lippard at January 24, 2006 7:38 PM

I've been recieving spam from guy's sites for a long time and I'd really love it if I could use refi-retaliator on his ordering form. Unfortunatly, I still need some help with it. His sites use a shopping cart system and I don't know how I'm supposed to use the refi-retaliator on those kinds of sites.

Posted by: Eik C at January 25, 2006 10:33 AM

Eik, as far as I know, the ReFi Retaliator is specifically designed to flood Polyakov's mortgage lead forms. I don't believe it's designed as a general purpose form flooder.

Posted by: Brian at January 25, 2006 2:53 PM

Heh... another dirtbag spammer tries abusing the legal system like he abuses the internet.
The feds need to lock up these spammers in a jail cell. It wouldn't take up many resources - there are not that many hardcore spammers out there. It could mostly solve the spam problem with little resources or time.

Posted by: Spam Sucks at February 4, 2006 9:52 PM

Haha. Here is Greg's "New" zoominfo.com profile. Sounds like such a nice guy when he writes about himself :) hahaha. http://www.zoominfo.com/Search/PersonDetail.aspx?PersonID=-15771

Posted by: Truth at February 6, 2006 2:55 PM

I am not sure what this website is about and i really dont understand spamming! However, i purchased from Mr. Tift and in my opinion tastefull. His company was polite and was very personable, and best of all i lost 20 pounds with his dietmaxx product! I just wanted to write something because you people seem to want to get this guy (did the product not work for you?) Anyway, please dont write bad things about me i just thought someone should give Greg Tift a good word where deserved. Thank you.

Posted by: Denise at February 21, 2006 3:51 PM

Well, it's time to speak out for email marketers! Here's my input. I personally know Greg Tift. I know that his expertise in the supplements business has generated sales of over a million bottles of Maxx. I also know that he has helped men and women to regain their self esteem. I know that last year a for-profit anti spammer attempted to sue Tift and others and failed. The case was dismissed (#05-2-05832-SEA) and is under a protective order. Quite frankly it is my opionion that the entire anti-spam organization is in fact spammers themselves. For every spam group online or discussion group it is always mirrored with the opportunity to purchase spam blocking software. I continue to be astonished that anti-spam groups have empowered themselves to police the Can-Spam Act, last i checked only the FTC had that authority. If you wonder why i know so much it's because i was one of the respondents in the dismissed civil action. Good day.

Posted by: Brian at February 22, 2006 7:07 PM

My name is Leslie and I was once Greg Tift’s business partner. I would trust Greg to raise my children if I died. That is the level of trust I have in him.

Greg is certainly a greedy capitalist and yes, he really enjoys making money, but he is not unique among humans. He is just trying to make a living just like the rest of us and raise his kids with the opportunities that we all want to give our children. I would never go so far as to say that this person has no morals or ethics! Quite the contrary. Yes, he could sell you broken glass in a paper bag for a million dollars, but if you weren’t a satisfied customer, he would do anything to make sure you were.

Most importantly, Greg cares deeply about people and is not out to make anyone angry…if he did he would apologize to each person individually and try to make it right.

After all, this is the man who put all the tile in Safeco field. Can we give the guy a little civic credit? This man is a concerned local citizen and not an import like so many Washingtonians are these days.

Bottom line, everyone has done something that wasn’t perfect. What I want to know is why you anti-spam people don’t just delete the mail in your inbox or get better filters? Or better yet, get a life so that you don’t have to waste inordinate amounts of time filling web pages with your blather about other people’s lives?? It’s not as if it’s ruining yours…give me a BREAK!! Try telling me you have never done something that pissed someone else off...the thing is, you can't!!

Posted by: Leslie at February 24, 2006 2:25 PM

i have received 384 spam emails for his crap!
all with forged headers.
i am planning to sue him in bexar county texas
small claims court really soon.

i am going to also file a report with the police
department for harrasement and violating the Communications Decency Act for sending sexually
related materail without putting sexually explicit under the headers by the end of this year.

he will not win in a not such a corporate america favortism hitlerbush loving town.

ill drag his ass in a corpus christi texas courtroom if that does not work.

just watch me.

Posted by: greg is a perverted pompus jerk at March 10, 2006 2:11 AM

 

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