It’s one of those stories which one would think that only Kafka could dream up, if it weren’t for the fact that the story is true.

Charles Booher was a friendly, unassuming Silicon Valley engineer - like thousands of others in the Valley. However he gained distinction - some would even say notoriety - when the load of spam which he received from Canadian spam firm DM Contact Management pushed him over the edge.

Perhaps Booher, a survivor of testicular cancer, found a particular irony in the onslaught of penis enlargement spam which DM - named after its proprietor Douglas Mackay - sent his way. Perhaps it was the sheer volume which pushed him over the edge. Whatever it was, Booher wasn’t going to take it any more, and expressed his displeasure by sending Mackay email, and leaving him voice mail, in which he graphically detailed exactly how displeased he was. Dismemberment figured prominently in the messages.

The end result was not Mackay ceasing his wicked spamming ways. Instead, Booher was arrested and charged with… [Continued...]