] NEW YORK -- The man known as the "Buffalo Spammer," who
] allegedly has sent 825 million unwanted e-mails, has been
] arrested and arraigned, New York State Attorney General
] Eliot Spitzer said Wednesday.

I'm somewhat wary of spam legislation but there's no question that it has become a colossal problem. At least 50% of the mail volume to my work mailbox is spam.

I think the fraud-oriented legislation is probably preferable to having the government define what spam is; spoofing mail headers, abusing other peoples' mail servers, etc, would be what the spammers might be prosecuted for. "Legitimate" spammers would have to have their own servers, not spoof and provide a real opt-out system. They'd probably also have a hard time getting connectivity.

Wired News: Fraud Bust for 'Buffalo Spammer'