Spam I am (or was)

Sanford Wallace, shown here in 1997 as president of Cyber Promotions, reveled in his reputation then as the 'king of spam,' posing with cans of the processed meat whose name became a generic term for junk e-mail.

At its peak, Mr. Wallace's company fired off up to 25 million unsolicited e-mails daily. Vilified by Internet users and sued by online services - who said his e-mail overburdened their computer systems - Wallace left the business later that year.

He reemerged in late 1999 to launch SmartBotPro.Net. The site features an "auto-responder" for marketers: Users can send out canned messages and regular follow-ups to mailing lists.

But Wallace says he's changed his ways: Only those who respond to an initial pitch keep getting get his e-mail.

(c) Copyright 2000. The Christian Science Publishing Society