Operating 20 computers in an abandoned schoolhouse in Rockford, IL, Jay Nelson worked with relatives to set up more than a dozen shell companies, renting equipment and Web hosting services using aliases such as "Art Fudge." Nelson and his associates then "hacked into AOL e-mail accounts," states one legal motion filed by AOL, and overwhelmed members with links to pornographic Web sites such as pamsplayhouse.com.

In 1999, AOL won a court injunction barring Nelson from such activities and fining him $1.9 million; nonetheless, he and his colleagues subsequently sent another billion e-mail messages-triggering 25 percent of AOL's spam-related customer complaints over the next two years.