One of the largest global spam operations has been shut down, thanks to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). If you don't know much about them, they're an independent government agency whose "principal mission is the promotion of 'consumer protection' and the elimination and prevention of what regulators perceive to be 'anti-competitive' business practices".

The operation was called 'HerbalKing', and is estimated to have sent billions of illegal spam messages for prescription drugs and "bogus male-enhancement products". The FTC received over three million complaints about the messages (wouldn't mind having the computer that handled all those e-mails, myself), and as such, took action.

The Commission requested of a U.S. district court to issue a temporary injunction to the defendants, which they have now done. This prevents them from spamming and making false product claims. As well, their assets have been frozen. New Zealand (the native country of one of the defendants) authorities have also taken legal action, working with the Commission.

According to court-filed papers, the defendants recruited spammers from around the world to entice people to visit sites operated by an affiliate program called "Affking". By utilizing false header information to hide the message origin, no opt-out link, and failing to provide a physical address, they violated the CAN-SPAM Act.

The primary defendants are Lance Atkinson, a citizen of New Zealand living in Australia, and Jody Smith of Texas.