Lesson to spammers: If you're going to spam, at least have the common sense to avoid the pitfalls of media interviews. It seems that every month or so, a spammer decides to do an interview with a media outlet, then is either shocked or outraged by the public outcry. Such was the case with spammer Alan Ralsky, who decided to brag about his $740,000 house to the Detroit Free Press, then was surprised to find himself signed up for every junk mail list known to mankind several weeks later.

The same story is now playing out in New Zealand. Shane Atkinson, who hawks sexual potency pills via e-mail, discussed how he and his "associates" send out over 100,000 spam e-mails a day. He even explained how he has a 15 year old in the states who makes $500 a day helping him mass market. In an interview with the New Zealand Herald, he says he doesn't understand why people get so worked up about spam, and that they should "just delete them."

Of course the result was predictable.

Just a few days later found his personal information plastered to the web, concern now brewing about the safety of his children. He's received menacing phone calls, had several servers shut down, been subscribed to a gay dating service mailing list, and was added to the lists of marketers around the globe. Unlike Ralsky however, he's apparently had a change of heart, and has decided to get out of the spamming business, saying "I sort of feel good now about stopping this."

It's ironic that spammers spend so much time concealing their identity, only to have a hunger for the media spotlight be their undoing. Until a technical or legislative solution is found for spam, cyber-vigilantism seems to be the flavor of the day. But how long before someone, whose cheese has clearly slipped off their cracker, takes the idea too far?