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Internet sevice provider EarthLink has claimed a victory over two men accused of using EarthLink's service to send large amounts of spam.

Two men, Damon DeCrescenzo and David Burstyn, admitted to the operation while agreeing to a court order asking them to cease their campaign, while paying restitution to EarthLink. The size of the payment was not disclosed. These decisions bring closure to court proceedings that began in August 2003.

According to PCWorld.com,

Burstyn and DeCrescenzo were part of a large, multistate spam operation that EarthLink investigators dubbed the "Alabama Spam Ring," after the group's penchant for using phone lines in the Birmingham, Alabama, area to connect to dial-up EarthLink Internet accounts and send out spam.

In a lawsuit filed in August in U.S. District Court in Atlanta, EarthLink detailed a sophisticated spam operation that used phone lines, falsified names and addresses, and shell companies to send out more than 250 million spam messages advertising Viagra, herbal supplements, and adult dating services. The group used stolen or forged credit cards and engaged in identity theft to set up EarthLink accounts that were then used to send spam, EarthLink says.

EarthLink's victory comes shortly after the announcement of the lawsuit against two Texas spammers; signifying the fight against spam is starting to see results.

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