Schmutz Affidavit

This is the Schmutz Affidavit.

===========================
AFFIDAVIT

STATE OF WASHINGTON
COUNTY OF KING

KENNETH A. SCHMUTZ, being first duly sworn on oath, deposes and says:

1. INTRODUCTION and BACKGROUND

A. Warrants Requested

1. I make this affidavit in support of an application for a search warrant for:

a) the property located at and in a residential apartment located at:

1200 Western Avenue, Apartment 17E
Seattle, Washington 98

As explained more fully below, this apartment is both the residence of Robert Alan Soloway, and the base of operations for "Newport Internet Marketing," a company that is solely owned by Robert Alan Soloway. As is also explained more fully below, there is probable cause to believe that evidence, fruits, and instrumentalities of violations of federal laws exist, and are present at the premises, and/or in computers located on the premises at 1200 Western Avenue, Apartment 17E, Seattle, Washington 98101.

b) a storage unit, more specifically,
Storage Unit A
Public Storage Inc.
12465 Northup Way
Bellevue, WA 9800

As explained more fully below, this storage unit is rented by Robert Alan Soloway, and according to Soloway's own sworn statements, is used for the storage of business records for Soloway's business. As is further explained below, there is thus probable cause to believe that evidence, fruits, and instrumentalities of violations of federal laws exist, and are present at this storage unit.

B. Agent Background

2. I am a Special Agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and have been so employed since January 2004. I am currently assigned to the Seattle Office's Cyber Crime Squad, which investigates various computer-related crimes, including computer intrusions and Internet-related frauds.

3. I have both a Bachelors of Science, and a Masters of Science degree in Business Information Systems from Utah State University. Those degree programs involved, among other things, human computer interface, programming in three languages (C + +, COBOL, Pascal), and designing and creating Internet web pages. Prior to my work as a Special Agent, I worked for thirteen years in a variety of capacities in the computer technology field; holding positions, for example, in which I designed, implemented, and supported computer systems for credit unions, performed quality assurance testing for a leading network operating system company, and managed a group of software engineers in a high-paced technology company. I have also taught computer classes at the community college level, including courses on Windows NT Server, Networking Essentials, and Introduction to Programming. I recently obtained industry certification in CompTia's Net+ program.

4. As an FBI agent, I have received specialized training, and gained experience in interviewing and interrogation techniques, arrest procedures, search warrant applications, the execution of searches and seizures, federal computer crimes, computer evidence identification, computer evidence seizure and processing, and various other federal criminal laws and procedures. I have investigated dozens of cases involving the use of computers and the Internet to commit federal crimes, and have personally participated in the execution of multiple search warrants involving the search and seizure of computers and related equipment.

C. Sources of Information
5. The information contained in this affidavit has been compiled through my own investigatory efforts, with knowledge obtained from a variety of sources and methods, including the review of documents and electronic records. I have also drawn from information provided by numerous companies in response to official requests, from interviews I have conducted of victims and witnesses, and from information obtained from other law enforcement officers. Because this affidavit is submitted for the limited purpose of establishing probable cause in support of the application for a search warrant, it does not set forth each and every fact that I or others have learned during the course of this investigation.

D. Relevant Statutes
6. This affidavit is made in support of search warrants to obtain evidence, instrumentalities, and fruits of violations of the federal statutes identified below, which provide, in pertinent part, as follows:

18 U.S.C. § 1028A (Aggravated Identity Theft)
(a)(1) . . . Whoever, during and in relation to . . . [certain specified] felony violation[s] . . . knowingly transfers, possesses, or uses, without lawful authority, a means of identification of another person shall, in addition to the punishment provided for such felony, be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 2 years.

"Means of identification" is defined at 18 U.S.C. § 1028(d)(7), for purposes of § 1028 and 1028A, as follows:
(7) the term "means of identification" means any name or number that may be used, alone or in conjunction with any other information, to identify a specific individual, including any -
. . . .
Unique electronic identification number, address, or routing code; . . .

18 U.S.C. § 1037 (Fraud and Related Activity in Connection with Electronic Mail)
(a) . . . Whoever, in or affecting interstate commerce, knowingly -
(2) uses a protected computer to relay or retransmit multiple commercial electronic mail messages, with the intent to deceive or mislead recipients, or any Internet access service, as to the origin-of such messages, [or]
(3) materially falsifies header information in multiple commercial electronic mail messages and intentionally initiates the transmission of such messages,

(b) (1) . . . [shall be punished with a fine, and imprisonment] for not more than 5 years, or both, - if
(A) the offense is committed in furtherance of any felony under the laws of the United States; . . .

18 U.S.C. § 1341, (Mail Fraud)
Whoever, having devised or intending to devise any scheme or artifice to defraud, or for obtaining money or property by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises . . . for the purpose of executing such scheme or artifice or attempting so to do, places in any post office or authorized depository for mail matter, any matter or thing whatever to be sent or delivered by the Postal Service, or deposits or causes to be deposited any matter or thing whatever to be sent or delivered by any private or commercial interstate carrier, or takes or receives therefrom, any such matter or thing, or knowingly causes to be delivered by mail or such carrier according to the direction thereon ... shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both.

18 U.S.C. § 1343 (Wire Fraud)
Whoever, having devised or intending to devise any scheme or artifice to defraud, or for obtaining money or property by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises, transmits or causes to be transmitted by means of wire, radio, or television communication in interstate . . . commerce, any writings, signs, signals, pictures, or sounds for the purpose of executing such scheme or artifice, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both.

18 U.S.C. § 1956(a)(1) (Money Laundering)
Whoever, knowing that the property involved in a financial transaction represents the proceeds of some form of unlawful activity, conducts or attempts to conduct such a financial transaction which in fact involves the proceeds of specified unlawful activity
(A)(i) with the intent to promote the carrying on of specified unlawful activity;
. . . .
shall be sentenced to [a fine or imprisonment of up to 20 years, or both].

E. Location, and Items to Be Searched and Seized
7. The application requests authority to search:
a) the residence of Soloway; located at 1200 Western Avenue, Apartment 17E, Seattle, WA 98101, as well as any computers or other electronic storage media it found therein. The premises are more specifically described as an apartment on the top floor of the building located at 1200 Western Avenue, Seattle, Washington 98101. The apartment is the first door on the left after exiting the elevator. The door is clearly marked with " 17E. " The premises are additionally described in Attachment A, is attached hereto and incorporated by reference herein.

b) a storage unit leased by Soloway, located at Storage Unit A145, Public Storage Inc, 12465 Northrup Way, Bellevue, WA 98005, as well as any computers or other electronic storage media found therein. The storage locker is additionally described in Attachment A, attached hereto and incorporated by reference herein.

8. Based on the information set forth below, there is probable cause to believe that Soloway is engaged in criminal activities in violation of the statutes referenced above, and that he has done so, and continues to do so, using one or more computers located at the residential premises identified above, (or stored at the above referenced storage unit). The United States seeks authority to search and to seize, from those premises and/or those computers, items that constitute evidence, fruits and instrumentalities of violations of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1028A(a)(1), 103(a)(2) and (a)(3), further specified in Attachment B, attached hereto and incorporated by reference herein.

F. Background on Computer and Internet Technologies
9. This application is based on an investigation of activities related to computer and Internet technologies that may not be common knowledge. The following explanation of relevant terms and technologies is based on my training and experience, and is consistent with the results of the investigation.

10. Internet Protocol Address ("IP address") : An Internet Protocol (IP) address is a unique, 32 bit numeric address used to identify computers on the Internet. An IP address consists of four numbers, each from 0 to 255, separated by periods. Every computer connected to the Internet (or group of computers using the same account to access the Internet) must be assigned an IP address so that Internet traffic sent from and directed to that computer is directed properly from its source and to its destination. IP addresses are typically assigned by Internet service providers ("ISPs"), such as AOL, Earthlink, or Comcast. An ISP might assign a different IP address to a customer each time the customer makes an internet connection (so-called "dynamic IP addressing"), or it might assign an IP address to a customer permanently or for a fixed period of time (so-called "static IP addressing"). Even if an IP address is dynamically assigned, the computer will retain the originally assigned IP address if the computer never disconnects from the network after the initial IP address assignment or the user does not manually reset it. Regardless of whether it is dynamically assigned or static, the IP address used by a computer attached to the Internet must be unique for the duration of a particular session; that is, from connection to disconnection.

ISPs typically log their customers' connections, including IP addresses. The ISP can thus identify which of their customers was assigned a specific IP address during a particular session.

11. Domain Name: In the context of the Internet, a domain name is the logical, text-based, equivalent of the numeric IP address. Because it is "logical," and text-based, a domain name - for example, "www.testname.com" - is more easily remembered by humans than is an exclusively numeric IP address, such as "23.45.35.100."

Like an IP address, a domain name does consist of a sequence of characters, separated by periods. Domain names are organized hierarchically and read from right to left. The right-most component is the "top level domain." This includes the ".com," ".gov," and ".edu" domains, as well as many others. Top level domains are owned and managed by the Internet sanctioning organizations. The second part of the domain name is owned by the registrant who first registered the name with the sanctioning organizations. Domain name owners can then create sub-domains to provide access to resources they own and/or control.

Numerous Internet companies offer free sub-domains to their customers. These companies typically have a collection of domain names that they have registered, and allow their customers to create sub-domains of the domain names and control the IP addresses to which those sub-domains resolve.

12. Domain Name Service ("DNS"): DNS is the Internet resource for converting the text-based domain names into IP addresses. DNS server computers maintain a database for resolving domain host names and IP addresses, allowing users of computers configured to query the DNS to specify remote computers by the easier-to-remember domain host names (in words), rather than by the difficult-to-remember numerical IP addresses.

DNS also thus makes it possible to "move" a host on the Internet (which would entail a change in the underlying IP address), while still preserving the availability of the resource based on its text-based domain name. Users would still request the resource by its (text-based) domain name, and DNS would resolve the name to the new IP address.

13. Server: A computer that provides a service - such as e-mail or Web data - to other computers (known as "clients") via a network or the Internet. When a user accesses e-mail or Internet web pages, or accesses files stored on the network itself, those files are pulled electronically from the server where they are stored and are sent to the client's computer via the network or Internet. Notably, server computers can be physically located in any location; for example, it is not uncommon for a network's server to be located hundreds (or even thousands) of miles away from the client computers.

14. Proxy Server: A proxy server is a computer that offers a computer network service to allow clients to make indirect network connections to other computers or network services. An open proxy is a computer that will accept client connections from any IP address and make connections to any Internet resource. A proxy server can be used to camouflage the originating source IP address of an e-mail communication, as the IP address of the originating source of the communication will be replaced in the header by the IP address of the proxy server. Use of multiple proxy servers adds to the difficulty of tracing a communication back to its true original IP address source.

15. Internet Service Provider ("ISP"): A business that provides connectivity to the Internet. ISPs typically provide the ability to send and receive e-mail, browse the World Wide Web and download (copy) files from Internet servers. Internet Service Providers often offer other Internet-related services such as hosting an Internet site on a web server.

16. Website: A location on the Internet at which an individual or organization provides information to others about itself. It may also provide links to other Internet sites with common interests or goals.

17. E-mail header: The beginning of an e-mail message, that contains detailed information (1P address and domain names) of the origin of the e-mail ("From"designation); the destination of the e-mail ("To" designation); as well as date, routing, and possibly subject matter information.

18. Forged e-mail header: A tactic used to hide the source address of an e-mail by placing false information in the "From:" field of the e-mail header.

19. Bounce back e-mail: Errors can occur at multiple places in e-mail delivery. A user may sometimes receive a bounce back message from their own e-mail server, and sometimes from a recipient's e-mail server. For example, imagine that Jack {jack@example.com) sends a message to Jill (fill@example.org) at a different site. Once Jack's e-mail server has accepted the message, it must either pass it along to Jill's e-mail server, or else deposit a bounce message in Jack's mailbox. However, problems arise if Jill's e-mail server receives a message with a forged From: field, e.g., if spammer@example.net sends an unsolicited bulk message claiming to be from jack@example.com. In this case, Jill's mail server would send the bounce message to Jack even though Jack never sent the original message to Jill. This is called a bounce back e-mail or backscatter.

20. Spam: bulk ("multiple"[1]) commercial e-mail messages. "Spamming" is the abuse of electronic messaging systems by sending multiple commercial e-mail messages.

[1 As noted, infra, the term "multiple" is defined within 18 U.S.C. §1037 as "more than 100 electronic mail messages during a 24-hour period, more than 1,000 electronic mail messages during a 30-day period, or more than 10,000 electronic messages during a 1-year period.]

21. "Opt-in e-mail address": the e-mail address of an Internet user who has signaled his/her. consent to receive commercial e-mail communications.

22. "WHOIS" Lookup: A query/response protocol that is widely used for querying a database in order to determine the owner of a domain name, an IP address, or an autonomous system number on the Internet.

II. THE INVESTIGATION

A. Complaints Filed with FTC, BBB and Washington Attorney General's Office, and Statements of Victims of Spamming, Wire Fraud, Mail Fraud, and Identity Theft

23. On October 16, 2006, an investigator with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) contacted the FBI in Seattle regarding a local resident who has been the subject of approximately 100 complaints of spamming, dating back to as early as 1999. I subsequently discussed the complaints with a representative of the FTC, reviewed many of the complaints, and also reviewed some of the summary data that had been gathered by the FTC with regard to the same. As a result, I learned that these 100 different complainants related very similar experiences, that typically included the following:

a) The complainants reported that they had received multiple commercial e-mail messages (spam) that essentially consisted of an advertisement for a "bulk" or "broadcast" "e-mail service" business. In the body of the spammed message, recipients could "click" on a domain name contained in the message, in order to link to the website of the company that was making the e-mail advertisement.

If they proceeded to the website, the visitor would see statements, including purported "quotes" from various sources, regarding the ability of the company to reach tens of millions of potential new customers with "broadcast e-mail," the relatively low cost of "broadcast e-mail" advertisement in relation to its "effectiveness," and the large sales benefits to be reaped from "broadcast e-mail" advertising. The company represented, on the website, that customers could achieve these positive sales results (e.g., a "500% increase in sales"), either through hiring the company to do broadcast e-mailing on their behalf (to "geographically targeted," "interest targeted," and "permission-based opt-in e-mail" addresses available to the company), or, that they could purchase a. "software kit" from the company that would enable the customer to send out their own "broadcast" e-mail advertisements. The website reportedly typically offered "lifetime 24/7 customer & technical support" to potential purchasers of either the e-mail "service" or the "software kit," as well as "money-back guarantees" if the promised sales gains did not materialize within 90 days.

b) The complainants identified the name of the bulk e-mail business variously as Newport IM Corporation, NIM, Newport Internet Marketing, Newport Corp, NPR, or Broadcast Email Services. They also reported that a variety of domain names were used in the initial spammed advertisements. Although the name of the business and the domain names contained in the advertisements varied, each had some common connections, based on the content of the spam message and the content of the website reached through the. domain name. Many of the complainants also reported the name "Robert Soloway" as having a connection to the company, and/or often reported one or the other of two common physical addresses: PO Box 1259, Seattle, WA 98111, or 1200 Western Avenue, 17E, Seattle, Washington. These addresses were seen by the complainants, for example, as an address to which they could send payments to purchase the "broadcast e-mail" service or software. The addresses were also reportedly seen by some complainants after doing additional on-line research, including WHOIS lookups, in an attempt to identify who was responsible for the initial spam they had received, and in their attempts to contact the sender and request that the spamming to them be stopped.

c) The complainants generally reported that they had difficulty in identifying the source of the initial spammed messages, because they uniformly contained false "From:" headers. The "From:" headers were either blank, contained the same e-mail address as the "To:" header, or contained an invalid e-mail address. Many of the complainants reported that they had attempted to contact the originator of the e-mail by clicking on the domain name listed in the body of the unsolicited e-mail, and then making a request, through the website, that their e-mail address be removed. Despite their attempts and requests to have their e-mail addresses removed from the list of recipients, however, none of the complainants was successful in doing so. Instead, the volume of spam to them from the company typically increased after they had communicated their request that it be stopped.

d) Some of the complainants reported that they had paid for broadcast e-mail services from the company, or had purchased the broadcast e-mail software (typically at a cost of $149.00). These complainants commonly reported that neither the "broadcast service" or the software was what it was represented to be; that it resulted in spam to addresses that were neither targeted or "opt-in," and as a result of which they had received numerous complaints or been "black-listed" for spamming activity. The purchasers of the software often reported that the product simply did not work, at all. Purchasers of both the "service" and the software reported that the company refused to provide either support, responses to complaints, or the "guaranteed" refund. Many reported that after they had complained or reversed payment charges, they were threatened with additional fees and referral to collection.

e) Other of the complainants reported that the company had spammed, fraudulently using e-mail addresses or domain names that belonged to them in the "From:" field in a forged header. These complainants reported that they, in turn, had been the target of complaints and adverse actions because they were falsely being blamed as the originators of spam.

24. After receiving the above referenced information from the FTC, I performed a search of business records for the State of Washington, and learned that Newport Internet Marketing Corporation, doing business as NIM Corporation, had been incorporated in California in 1998, and registered with the Washington State Secretary of State as a foreign corporation in December of 2004. The address of record for the corporation, in Washington, was 1200 Western Avenue, Suite 17E, Seattle, Washington, 98101. I next contacted an inspector from the United States Postal Service, who reported that the recipient of record for mail at 1200 Western Avenue, Suite 17E, Seattle, Washington, 98101 was Robert Soloway. The postal inspector also reported that the address of "PO Box 1259, Seattle, WA 98111 " was the address for a rented U.S. Postal mail box, at the downtown Seattle Post Office location (301 Union St., Seattle, WA). Postal records revealed that PO Box 1259 had been rented by "Robert Soloway/NIM Corporation" on March 26, 2004. Soloway also indicated, on that form, that the address for "NIM Corporation" was 1200 Western Ave., Ell, Seattle, Washington 98101.

25. On December 1, 2006, I interviewed AG, who was one of the victims who had complained to the FTC about spamming by Robert Soloway and NIM. AG reported to me, as follows:

a) AG has owned a web-hosting business, in Minnesota, since 1996. As part of that business, he owns, designs, and maintains domains and websites for himself and other clients. Since 2003, he has owned his own servers that he has leased and managed for website hosting. In connection with his web-hosting business, AG owns over 400 domains, some of which are used by his clients. Because spam places a burden on the servers that he uses for web-hosting, AG has learned as much as possible about spam, including how to identify fraudulent "From:" information in e-mail headers, and how to track the actual locations of servers hosting websites. He has also worked with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers ("ICANN") as well as other registrars and hosting companies to report forged domain registration and improper use of websites, as well as other online security violations.

b) AG stated that he began receiving spam from Newport Internet Marketing in August, 2005; first in his own business and personal e-mail accounts, and then, increasingly, in e-mail accounts that were created when he established new domain names for his clients.. AG was able to link the spam to a Robert Soloway through the use of a WHOIS lookup on the domain name that was included in the body of the spam messages. AG also clicked on the domain name listed in the body of the e-mail and was taken to a website that marketed mass e-mail services and products using the name "Broadcast Email Services" and "Newport Internet Marketing" ("NIM").

c) AG reported that he had never opted-in to any program offered by Robert Soloway or NIM. AG reported that he had attempted to contact Soloway over 2100 times by phone, e-mail, fax, and third party complaints, to request that Soloway discontinue sending spam to AG's domains. Soloway would not respond to AG's attempts to communicate, and had never stopped sending spam to domains used by AG or that AG had set up for his clients. In fact, Soloway was continuing to spam AG's domains in December of 2006, when I spoke with him. Often, after AG entered an e-mail address into the "removal" list on Soloway's websites, the account would begin receiving even more spam than before, including spam for generic Viagra, "sexual desire patches," prescription drugs, penis enlargement, pornographic material, stock market "pump and dump" schemes, online casinos, and diploma mill schemes. AG reported to me that he has [illegible] compelled to shut down e-mail addresses that he had established for his clients due to Soloway's unrelenting spam to them.

d) Based on his own professional experience in the web-hosting field, AG was able to make some analysis of the spam he received from NIM Corporation/Broadcast Email Services. This included his assessment that the spam to communications from these companies contained headers that were forged. Some of the "From:" fields were blank, some had the same name in both the "From:" and the "To:" header field, and others had fake domain names in the "From" field.

e) AG reported that on April 17, 2006, at around 11:00 pm, he received approximately 20 spam e-mails from e-mail addresses with the domain name "i-frane.com." AG did a look up on the domain name "i-frane.com" and found that it was not a registered domain, had not been registered in the previous six months, and was available for sale. AG then immediately purchased and registered the domain name "i-frane.com" and set up an e-mail server to capture e-mail that was bounced back to that server. AG did this to catch all the e-mails sent with the "From" address of i-frane.com that bounced back because they were not sent to a valid e-mail address. This information would, in turn, give an indication of how many spam messages were being sent out using "i.frane.com" as the "From:" address. On April 24, 2006, one week after AG had purchased the i.frane.com domain, the e-mail server had received 234,784 bounce back spam messages that had been sent out with a forged "i-frane.com" "From:" header. The number of bounce backs subsequently increased to 174,549 - 99% of which AG found to contain links to Soloway's web sites in the message body.

f) From further analysis of the recorded bounce backs and other information provided to me by AG, it was determined that the spam that had been sent by NIM Corporation/Broadcast Email Services had been sent to thousands of domains using the standard prefixes of advertising@, billing@, feedback@, home@, help@, accounts@, contact@, admin@, guest@, administrator@, orders@, postmaster@, mail@, root@, support@, webmaster@, service@, test@, uucp@, info@, and sales@. (When an e-mail server is set up for the first time, the process used for that set-up automatically and by default creates a group of accounts with standard prefixes.) These default accounts appear to be among the ones that Soloway is routinely using for spamming activities.

g) AG reported to me that the spam sent by Soloway has created substantial harm and loss to him both personally and professionally. Included in the costs to him are the need to devote from two to three hours, daily, to efforts to remove spam from his clients' accounts, or to take special precautions in establishing accounts in order to protect them from Soloway's spamming activity.
26. On November 29, 2006, an FBI agent interviewed GN. GN had also filed a spamming complaint against Soloway with the FTC. In that interview, and in his complaint to the FTC, GN reported as follows:

a) GN stated that in September 2006 he had registered two domain names for his businesses. A few weeks later, GN began to receive spam with forged headers. The "From:" field in the header was either blank, or contained the same information as the "To:" field. That address was GN's e-mail address. The spammed message advertised the ability to mass e-mail "8,000,000 people". The domain contained in the body of the e-mail from which to find out more about the mass mailing system was "www.emailadvertisinginc.com. "

b) When GN visited the website at the address of www.emailadvertisinginc.com it appeared to be a website for NPR Corporation, purportedly with an address of 1001 4th Ave - #1259, Seattle, WA, 98111. A second address, however, of NIM, Box 1259, Seattle, WA 98111 was provided. in the section of the website for placing software orders by mail. The website also contained a "Charity" section, (in which representations were made about charitable donations purportedly made by the company), that displayed a signature of "Rob Soloway."

c) Over the following two months, GN received similar spam messages identifying either "www.emailadvertisinginc.com"., "www.newportcorp.cn", or "www.colidsilver.com" as the pertinent domain, in the body of the spam message. Although active at different periods of time, GN found that all three domain names appeared to link to what was essentially - or even exactly - the same website, in terms of its content.

d) GN requested to be removed from Soloway's mailing list by using the removal option under the "Contact Us" tab on the website. After GN requested to be removed, however, GN received an increased amount of spam from Soloway. The

27. The address of 1001 4th Ave - # 1259, Seattle, WA, 98111, which was noted by GN to have been published as the purported address for NPR, was likewise reported by a number of other recipients of the common spam as the spamming company's address. As part of my investigation I researched that address, and learned that it had been an office space for a local bank in past years, but that it had not been occupied by any tenant in recent years.

28. On December 12, 2006, an FBI agent interviewed DM. In October, 2006, DM began receiving spam on the twelve domain names that he owned. The spam marketed advertisement of a way to mass e-mail "8,000,000 people." The domain listed in the body of the e-mail to take advantage of the offer was "www.emailadvertisinginc.com." DM realized the email was fraudulent because the header of the e-mail was forged. The "To:" field and the "From:" field were the same. One of the e-mails, for example, contained DM's own address of "sales@d...m....com in both the "From" field and the "To:" field in the header, and he knew he did not send the e-mail to himself. Nor had DM opted-in to any offers to receive unsolicited e-mail. DM did a WHOIS lookup on the Internet to see who was the owner of the domain emailadvertisinginc.com, and learned that it was registered to a Chinese name.

29. As part of my investigation in'this case, I have learned from the Postal Inspection Service that they have received and reviewed approximately 100 complaints that have been filed with the Better Business Bureau (BBB), against Robert Soloway doing business as Newport Internet Marketing Corporation, also know as Newport IM Corporation (NIM). These complaints were dated between October 2003 and April 2007. Like the complaints to the FTC, these included complaints from individuals who had received spam e-mails from NIM; people who had purchased "broadcast email" software from NIM that failed to function as advertised, and who were unable to receive a full refund as promised; people who had purchased a broadcast e-mail service from NIM to advertise their companies' services to "select, quality, opt-in e-mail addresses," only to discover that NIM had sent their information out as spam; and people whose e-mail addresses or domain names had been used without their permission and fraudulently inserted into forged "From:" headers in spammed e-mail messages. I have personally reviewed a number of these complaints, including the following:

30. I have reviewed the complaint of EO, residing in Floresville, TX. On July 6, 2004, EO received an unsolicited e-mail from NIM advertising a broadcast e-mail software package for $149.00. The advertisement represented that use of the software to send out e-mail advertisements would result in a minimum 400 % increase in sales, and that the user would receive a minimum of 750,000 website hits within 90 days or receive a full 100% refund. The advertisement further represented that the broadcast e-mail software would automatically create 10 super-fast mail servers on the user's computer that would provide the ability to send out unlimited, personalized and targeted broadcast e-mail advertisements to over 500,000,000 people on the internet at the rate of up to 1,000,000 daily, automatically and for free. The advertisement further represented that the software would provide millions of the newest and freshest general interest and regionally targeted e-mail addresses; that a purchaser would be guided through the entire process of installing and utilizing the entire broadcast e-mail package; and that a purchaser would receive unlimited lifetime customer and technical support.

31. EO has provided copies of credit card statements showing he purchased, the broadcast e-mail software from NIM on July 6, 2004; EO has provided a copy of a FedEx label that shows the broadcast e-mail package was shipped to him in Floresville, Texas on July 6, 2004. EO has provided copies of a-mails to NIM requesting information and assistance on the use of the software and complaining that the software
did not work. EO has provided a copy of an additional FedEx label and tracking records that show a second broadcast e-mail package was shipped to him in Floresville, Texas on July 16, 2004, that originated from Seattle, Washington even though the shipping label shows NIM to be located at PO Box 1736, Phoenix, OR 97535. EO has the use of the software and requesting a refund because the software did not produce the results represented in NIM's advertisement. EO has provided information that his credit card was charged three times by NIM for $149.00 on July 6, July 8, and July 11, 2004; that he has not received a refund of any monies; and that NIM has threatened to send him to a collection agency if he tries to reverse the charges by NIM on his credit card account.

32. I have reviewed the complaint of A.H. residing in Cedarburg, WI. A.H. reported that she ordered the broadcast e-mail software from NIM on August 29, 2005, to and received the shipped package on August 31, 2005. A.H. reports that she was immediately dissatisfied with the software due to the difficult process that NIM required to register and activate the product. From that point forward A.H. was concerned about the quality of the product and wanted to return it, but NIM required they evaluate the product for 90 days before returning it.

33. A.H. sent an e-mail requesting instructions to return the software and referencing a charge back to their credit card for the purchase price. A.H. received the following response from NIM via e-mail explaining their guarantee, "If You Do Not Receive At Least a 400% Increase in Sales After Using Our Broadcast Email Package for 90 Days, Simply Return it to us for a Full 100% Refund, No Questions Asked. Any Dispute of this Charge with Your CC Will Automatically be Forwarded to Our Collection Agency With Their. Additional $250 Service Charge for a Total of $399 to be Owed." A.H. received another e-mail stating "If you dispute the charge your debt will be forwarded to our collection agency with an additional $250 service charge by them, which if not paid will be forwarded to the 3 US Credit Agencies, in turn negatively affecting your credit rating for the next 7 years not paying said debt owed, and will appear on your credit report indicating you refused to pay a $399 debt that you own. We do not stand for theft at our corporation."

34. A.H. reported. that after waiting the required 90 days she sent daily e-mails to NIM over a two week period trying to obtain an address for use in returning the broadcast e-mail software. It was only after posing as a new customer, and using a new e-mail address that A.H. was able to obtain the address of PO Box 1259, Seattle, Washington 98111 as an address for NIM Corporation. The BBB records associated with A.H.'s complaint indicate that NIM advised BBB that.it was refusing to refund the purchase price because, "[t]his customer is not entitled to a refund for opened software. We have over 10,000 customers currently using our software and it works PERFECTLY. This is customer to email customer service at nim@cyberservices.com and we will assist them with any questions or concerns they may have."

35. A.H. stated that NIM told her that they refused to pay the refund because A.H. did not return the broadcast e-mail software. A.H., however, reported that she did return the product and that she had a PS Form 3811, Domestic Return Receipt, signed by what appears to be Robin or Robert Soloway, indicating receipt.

36. As part of my investigation in this case, I learned that the Washington State Attorney General's Office has also received dozens of complaints about spamming and fraudulent activities related to Robert Soloway, Newport Internet Marketing Corporation, and/or Newport IM Corporation during the period from 2004 through and until the present. Like the complaints to the FTC and BBE, these included complaints from individuals who had received spam a-mails from NIM; people who had purchased internet mailing software from NIM that failed to function as advertised but who were nevertheless denied a full refund as promised; and people whose e-mail addresses or domain names had been used without their permission and fraudulently inserted into forged "From:" headers in spammed e-mail messages.

37. The complaints made to the Washington Attorney General's Office included a complaint made by J.N., who is a Senior Computer Systems Specialist with the Santa Barbara Department of Social Services, in Santa Maria, California. On April 9, 2007, I contacted J.N. by telephone, and he reported the following to me:

a) Employees of the Santa Barbara Department of Social Services (DSS) began receiving unsolicited e-mail addressed to their individual work e-mail addresses in around February of 2007. The e-mail was fraudulent because it listed the same e-mail address in both the "To:" and "From:" fields in the header. The e-mail address that was used included the name of an individual DSS employee, and the domain name of DSS, ("ktc@ sdcsocialserv.org"). The employee had not sent this e-mail to himself. J.N. reported that four other employees were receiving the same e-mails, also with forged "From" headers that contained their own names in both the "From:" and "To:" fields.

b) The message sent with the forged headers stated that:. "we email advertise your charity web site to 7,500,000 people. free", and contained a link to a website at domain: "emailmarketingassociates. com" . J.N. researched the website on the Internet and discovered that the mass e-mail marketing business belonged to Robert Soloway, and was purportedly located at 1001 4th Ave., #1259, Seattle, Washington, 198111.(As noted above, I have investigated that address, which has repeatedly been identified on Soloway's websites as the address for his company, and have determined that it is not a valid address.)

c) J.N. further reported that the spamming of DDS employees had continued for about eight weeks at the time I spoke with him, and that the cost to Santa Barbara County DDS to deal with this spam that contained forged e-mail addresses of DDS employees was about $1,000.00 per week, based on the hours of IT employees that had been spent trying to put a stop to it.

38. Other complaints filed with the Washington Attorney General's Office from individuals who have had their own, or their company's e-mail address or domain name effectively stolen, and used fraudulently in a forged "From" header in spam include H.D., from Minnesota, J.A. from California, and M.H. of California. These complainants note that because their own e-mail addresses are being forged and inserted fraudulently into the "From" headers of spam, they are unable to stop the spam by any filter. M.H. reported that his company is losing revenue due to complaints that it is sending spam, because Broadcast Email Services is sending spam with his company's e-mail addresses and domain name in forged "From" headers.

B. Technical and Other Evidence Corroborating Victim Claims

39. In January, 2007, an Internet Service Provider (ISP) provided three servers to the FBI. The ISP turned the servers over to the FBI because the customer who had leased them had violated the ISP's terms of service agreement by using them to transmit spam. An Agent from the Seattle FBI Cyber Squad, as well as an Agent from the FBI's Computer Analysis Response Team (CART) forensically examined the three servers. Based on that examination, they made the following findings:

a) A software program called Dark Mailer had been installed on all three servers. Dark Mailer, (as defined by the online encyclopedia wikapedia), is a software program that has been under attack from anti-spam groups since its inception. The software taps into a network of zombie proxy computers and is able to send 50,000 pieces of e-mail per hour, from a regular cable modem connection. It affords near-total anonymity because of the zombie proxy network feature. Dark Mail proponents claim it can be used for legitimate "bulk-emailing" to opt-in subscribers, but the fact that it relies on zombie proxy computers to transmit the "bulk e-mails" is inconsistent with claims of legitimacy. It is widely believed within the Internet security industry that Dark Mailer is often used by spammers, who are able to conceal their connection to spamming activity because of the anonymity provided by Dark Mailer's zombie proxy network system. Dark Mailer does not currently does not have an official website for downloading; copies, however, can still be found.

b) The Dark Mailer program installed on the three servers was configured to copy e-mail addresses from text files to a template, send the e-mail out using the template, and record the e-mail address of the sent e-mail in a file called C:\SENT\SENT.TXT. A review of the SENT.TXT files on two of the servers revealed that e-mail had been sent from server1 to 57 million e-mail addresses, and sent from server2 to 37 million e-mail addresses, in a three month period. The Dark Mailer software was also configured on all three servers to use a list of 2,023 proxy computers to resend the e-mail. This configuration, as noted above, would effectively disguise the the originating source of the e-mail.

c) The body of the e-mail template -configured on the Dark Mailer software included the following text:

"email advertise like this to 8,000,000 people... free.."
"http://www.advertisingemailcorporation.com"
"advertise now for christmas...15 days left ..."

d) A copy of the website that had been viewed by one of the spam complainants at "http://www.advertisingemailecorporation.com" was available, and was compared to the content of websites that had been copied from "www.emailadvertisinginc.com" , "www.newportcorp.cn" , and "www.colidsilver.com" . All of these websites had identical content, and all listed PO Box 1259, Seattle, WA (the PO Box registered by Soloway), as an address for receipt of orders and payments for the "broadcast e-mail" services and software that were offered for sale on each website.

40. The ISP that turned over the servers to the FBI identified the person who had leased them as "Rob Solowa," 1200 Western Avenue, Seattle, WA, 98101, telephone number 206-226-9558. The servers were leased by "Solowa" beginning in September, 2006 until the ISP took them offline on approximately December 15, 2006.

41. In April of 2007 I learned that spam potentially connected to Soloway was being transmitted from IP addresses 209.160.33.45, 209.160.41.77, and 209.160.41.78. Through WHOIS lookups, I learned that these IP addresses belonged to an ISP named Hopone Internet Corporation. On April 19, 2007, I contacted Hopone, and was referred to the abuse department. The head of the department reported that the servers with those IP addresses had been taken offline due to a violation of Hopone's terms of use policy. He stated that Hopone had learned about this when it was contacted by another ISP, which had informed Hopone that the three IP addresses were sending out spam. He further advised that the three servers containing the hard drives using the above IP addresses had not been touched after they were powered off. Because the contract had been violated by the customer, the abuse manager for Hopone Internet Corporation agreed to provide the hard drives to the FBI. After a "Consent to Search" document was signed by management officials at Hopone Internet Corporation, I took possession of the hard drives on April 20, 2007.

42. An Agent from the Seattle FBI Cyber squad, as well as an Agent from the FBI's CART team analyzed these three servers. Based on that examination, they made the following findings:

a) The Dark Mailer program was installed on all three servers. Dark Mailer was configured to copy sent e-mail messages in text files beginning with the letters "em", in a directory called "sent." A review of the "em" text files on the hard drives revealed that 120,000,000 e-mails had been sent to 79,610,868 unique e-mail addresses.

b) The hard drives all contained text files beginning with "list", followed by a number. For example, on one server the first "list" file started with "list0001.txt" and ended with "list0136. txt. " Together these files contained 135,579,118 unique e-mail addresses. The majority of the e-mail addresses used the names "accounting", "admin", "billing", "contact", "feedback", "help", "info", "mail", "sales", "service", "support", and "webmaster", with different domain names.

c) A file named "doms" was present that contained 3,177,034 unique domain names.

d) Dark Mailer was configured to use proxy IP addresses to resend the e-mail to the ultimate recipient. A review of the proxy text files revealed that 3,148 unique IP addresses were included in this proxy network.

43. According to Hopone records, the person paying for the three servers with the IP addresses of 209.160.33.45, 209.160.41.77, and 209.160.41.78. was identified as "Robert Solowa," 1200 Western Avenue - 17E, Seattle, Washington, 198101, telephone number 206-226-9558, e-mail address: powerseller2003@mailshack.com. "Robert Solowa" had begun paying for these servers on December 29, 2006, and continued to do so until they were taken offline in mid-April of 2007. Hopone records also indicated that these servers had been managed on April 3, 2007 and April 4, 2007 by someone who was originating their communication from an IP address of 24.143.67.229.

44. I did a WHOIS look up on IP address 24.143.67.229, and learned that it belonged to an ISP named Millennium Digital Media Systems. Millennium Digital subsequently provided records that identified the subscriber to whom IP address 24.143.67.229 was assigned from March 8, 2007 to April 6, 2007 as Robert Soloway, 1200 Western Avenue, Apt. 17E, Seattle, Washington, 98101-2964, telephone number 206-226-9558.

45. During the course of this investigation, I have received and reviewed information and records that show a connection to, and indicate that Robert Soloway has used as many as 50 different domain names, over a two year period, as the hosting address for the website to advertise his spamming services and software. Many of these were used prior to the start of my investigation, and I have not been able to obtain records with respect to the registrations for them. Three of the domain names that were utilized in 2004 were reportedly registered to "Robert Alan" or "Bob Alan. " Since approximately March of 2006, the domains connected to the scheme have typically been registered through an ISP in China.

46. One of the domain names that has been used in Soloway's scheme - colidsilver.com, was registered and paid for with the stolen identity of C.W., from Texas. I interviewed C.W. in December, 2006, and he reported to me as follows:

a) In mid-September of 200640.W. noted four odd charges on his credit card statement. One of these was for the registration of the www.colidsilver.com domain. C.W. had never registered a domain, or given any one else permission to do so C.W. contacted his bank, which reversed the charge.

b) C.W. also accessed the website www.colidsilver.com to see what it was C.W. observed that it was a website for "Broadcast Email Corporation." C.W. looked through the website and noted that the "owner" was listed as "Bob Soloway." C.W. does not know Bob Soloway and did not authorize him to use his credit card information to register the domain www.colidsilver.com.

C. Money Laundering Activity

47. As part of this investigation, SA Sylvia Reyes, IRS-CI, has obtained and reviewed numerous banking, credit card, and on-line financial account records for Soloway and NIM. SA Reyes has shared her findings with me.

48. SA Reyes has determined from the records she has reviewed that Soloway is the sole shareholder of NIM, and he alone holds ownership, financial interests, and control of the corporate assets. She also found that Soloway routinely commingles personal and corporate assets and liabilities.

49. SA Reyes has identified multiple banking, credit card, and on-line financial accounts that have been used by Soloway and NIM as accounts for deposits of proceeds from the mail and wire fraud and spam scheme activites. Specific accounts used for this purpose by Soloway and NIM are further specifically identified in the Affidavit of SA Silvia Reyes in Support of Seizure Warrants that is attached hereto and fully incorporated. by reference herein.

50. SA Reyes has also identified numerous payments made by Soloway and NIM from accounts containing proceeds of the scheme, that have been made to continue and promote the carrying on of the scheme. These include payments, for example, to rent servers, to pay for hosting servers, to pay for ISP services, to pay for money transmitting services, to pay for package delivery services, and to pay the rent on Soloway's apartment, which is also his place of business.

51. Consistent with, and based on the findings of SA Reyes as more fully set forth in her Affidavit in Support of Seizure Warrants, attached hereto and fully incorporated by reference herein, there is probable cause to believe that any and all business records of NIM corporation and any and all financial records of either Soloway or NIM are, or contain, fruits, instrumentalities and evidence of violations of Title 18 U.S.C. Sections 1037(a)(2) and(a)(3) (Fraud in Electronic Mail), Title 1 U.S.C. Section 1341 (Mail Fraud), Title 18 U.S.C. Section 1343 (Wire Fraud), Title 18 U.S.C. Section 1028(A) (Aggravated ID Theft), and Title 18 U.S.C. Section 1956(a)(1) (Money Laundering).

D. Other Investigative Information

52. As part of this investigation, I learned that Robert Soloway and Newport Internet Marketing were named as defendants in a civil action filed by the Microsoft Corporation, in King County Superior Court, in December, 2003. (Case No. 03-2-12648-9 SEA). Plaintiff alleged violations of Washington State, and federal law based on Soloway's spamming activities. During the course of that litigation, Soloway responded to questions, under oath, in a proceeding on October 26, 2005. I have reviewed portions of the transcript from that proceeding. Included within the information Soloway provided under oath was the following:

a) Soloway "established residency for tax purposes" in Washington State in January of 2004, although he had come to the state and "set things up" in his apartment prior to that time.

b) Soloway started the Newport Internet Marketing company in 1996, and he is the sole employee and the sole company officer. Soloway's employment with NIM has been the "only employment [he's] had in [his] life."

c) Soloway works and runs his company from his one bedroom apartment in Seattle, Washington, at 1200 Western Avenue, Apartment 17E, Seattle, Washington 198101.

d) Soloway has and uses a computer and related supporting equipment at his apartment at 1200 Western Avenue to run his business.

e) Soloway rents a storage facility at a Public Storage facility on Northup Way in Bellevue, Washington, and keeps his business records there.

53. As part of this investigation, I have obtained records from Public Storage, which confirm that Robert Soloway leased Storage Unit A145, at the Public Storage facility located at 12465 Northup Way, Bellevue, WA 98005 on April 18, 2005, and that he has continuously leased that storage unit ever since.

54. As part of this investigation, I have confirmed with the management of the Harbor Steps Apartment Complex that Robert Soloway has rented Apartment 17E, at the Harbor Steps Complex, located at 1200 Western Avenue, Seattle, Washington 98101, since November 28, 2003, and that he has continued to rent and occupy that same apartment ever since.

III. COMPUTER and ELECTRONIC EVIDENCE

55. Based on the information in this affidavit, I believe that one or more computer systems are located at 1200 Western Avenue, Apartment 17E, Seattle, Washington, 98101, and that the computer system(s) located at the premises are instrumentalities of crime and constitute the means by which violations of Title 1 U.S.C. Sections 1037(a)(2) and(a)(3) (Fraud in Electronic Mail), Title 18 U.S.C. Section 1341 (Mail Fraud), Title 18 U.S.C. Section 1343 (Wire Fraud), Title 1 U.S.C. Section 1028(A) (Aggravated ID Theft), and Title 18 U.S.C. Section 195(a)(1) (Money Laundering) have been committed. Therefore, I believe that there is probable cause to seize the computer system(s) as instrumentalities of criminal activity.

56. In addition, it has been my experience that it is common for those engaging in computer fraud and e-mail fraud to use computers or other electronic media to store information such as passwords, account numbers, identification documents or means of identification, and correspondence with banks or other institutions regarding accounts they may have accessed. It is my belief that any number of the items sought in this affidavit may be found stored electronically. Based on my experience and my consultation with Special Agent CART examiner Russell E. Fox, Seattle FBI, (who has nine years of computer forensics experience and specialized training and experience in searching for electronic evidence), I also know that electronic evidence can be moved easily from one computer or electronic storage medium to another. As a result, I believe that electronic evidence may be stored on any computer or electronic storage medium present at the search sites.

57. In addition, based on my training and experience and that of Russell Fox, I know that in most cases it is impossible to successfully conduct a complete, accurate, and reliable search for electronic evidence stored on a computer or other electronic storage media during the physical search of a search site. This is true for a number of reasons, including but not limited to the following:

a. Technical Requirements: Searching computers and other electronic storage media for criminal evidence is a highly technical process requiring specific expertise and a properly controlled environment. The vast array of computer hardware and software available requires even computer experts to specialize in particular systems and applications, so it is difficult to know before a search which expert is qualified to analyze the particular system(s) and electronic evidence found at a search site. As a result, it is impossible to bring to the search site all of the necessary personnel, technical manuals, and specialized equipment to conduct a thorough search of every possible computer system. In addition, electronic evidence search protocols are exacting scientific procedures designed to protect the integrity of the evidence and to recover even hidden, erased, compressed, password-protected, or encrypted files. Since computer evidence is extremely vulnerable to inadvertent or intentional modification or destruction (both from external sources or from destructive code embedded in the system such as a "booby trap"), a controlled environment is essential to ensure its complete and accurate analysis.

b. Volume of Evidence. The volume of data stored on many computers and other electronic storage media is typically so large that it is impossible to search criminal evidence in a reasonable period of time during the execution of the physical search of a search site. A single megabyte of storage space is the equivalent of 500 double-spaced pages of text. A single gigabyte of storage space, or 1,000 megabytes, is the equivalent of 500,000 double-spaced pages of text. A fifteen gigabyte storage device would, therefore, contain the equivalent of 7.5 million pages of data, which, if printed out, would completely fill a 10' x 12' x 10' room to the ceiling. Computer hard drive capacities of hundreds of gigabytes are now commonplace. Consequently, the volume of data within a typical non-networked computer system is equivalent to many millions, and possibly billions, of printed pages.

c. Hidden or Obfuscated Evidence. Computer users can conceal data within computers and electronic storage media through a number of methods, including the use of innocuous or misleading filenames and extensions. For example, files with the extension ".jpg" often are image files; however, a user can easily change the extension to ".txt" to conceal the image and make it appear as though the file contains text. Similarly, computer users can.encode communications to avoid using key words that would be consistent with the criminal activity. Computer users also can attempt to conceal electronic evidence by using encryption technologies. For example, some encryption systems require that a password or device, such as a "dongle" or "keycard," be used to obtain a readable form of the data. In addition, computer users can conceal electronic evidence within another seemingly unrelated and innocuous file using a process known as "steganography." For example, by using steganography, a computer user can conceal text in an image file in such a way that it cannot be read when the image file is opened using ordinary means. As a result, law enforcement personnel may have to search all the stored data to determine which particular file contain items that may be seized pursuant to the warrant. This sorting process can take a substantial amount of time, depending on the volume of data stored and other factors.

d. Deleted or Downloaded Files. Computers and other electronic storage media allow suspects to delete files to attempt to evade detection or to take other steps designed to frustrate law enforcement searches for information. However, searching authorities can recover computer files or remnants of such files months or even years after they have been downloaded onto a hard drive, deleted, or viewed via the Internet. When a person "deletes" a file on a home computer, the data contained in the file do not actually disappear; rather, the data remain on the hard drive until they are overwritten by new data. As a result, deleted files, or remnants of deleted files, may reside in free or "slack" space (i.e., in space on the hard drive that is not allocated to an active file or that is unused after a file has been allocated to a set block of storage space) for long periods of time before they are overwritten. A computer's operating system may also keep a record of deleted data in a "swap" or "recovery" file. Similarly, files that have been viewed via the Internet are automatically downloaded into a temporary Internet directory or "cache." The browser typically maintains a fixed amount of hard drive space devoted to these files, and the files are only overwritten as they are replaced with more recently viewed Internet pages. Thus, the ability to retrieve the residue of an electronic file from a hard drive depends less on when the file was downloaded or viewed than on a particular user's operating system, storage capacity, and computer habits.

58. In accordance with the information in this affidavit, law enforcement personnel will execute the search of computers systems seized pursuant to this warrant as follows:

a. Upon securing the search site, law enforcement personnel will seize the computer systems and transport them to an appropriate law enforcement laboratory for review. The computer systems will be reviewed by appropriately trained personnel to extract and seize any data that falls within the list of items to be seized pursuant to the warrant.

b. In order to search fully for the items identified in the warrant, law enforcement personnel may examine all of the data contained in the computer systems to view their precise contents and determine whether the data fall within the list of items to be seized pursuant to the warrant. Because of the above-described technical requirements, volume of evidence, and the ability of suspects to delete, download, hide and/or obfuscate evidence, the analysis of electronically stored data may entail any or all of several different computer forensics techniques. Such techniques may include, but are not limited to, surveying various file "directories" and the individual files they contain (analogous to looking at the outside of a file cabinet for the pertinent files in order to locate the evidence and instrumentalities authorized for seizure by the warrant); "opening" or reading the first few "pages" of such files in order to determine their precise contents; "scanning" storage areas to discover and possibly recover recently deleted data; scanning storage areas for deliberately hidden files; and performing electronic "keyword" searches through all electronic storage areas to determine whether occurrences of language contained in such storage areas exist that are related to the subject matter of the investigation.

59. In order to search for data that fall within the list of items to be seized pursuant to the warrant, law enforcement personnel will seize and search the following items (heretofore and hereinafter referred to as "computer systems"), subject to the procedures set forth above:

a. Any computer equipment and storage device capable of being used to commit, further, or store evidence of the offense listed above;

b. Any computer equipment used to facilitate the transmission, creation, display, encoding or storage of data, including word processing equipment, modems, docking stations, monitors, printers, plotters, encryption devices, and optical scanners;

c. Any magnetic, electronic or optical storage device capable of storing data, such as floppy disks, hard disks, tapes, CD-ROMs, CD-R, CD-RWs, calculators, electronic dialers, electronic notebooks, and personal digital assistants;

d. Any documentation, operating logs and reference manuals regarding the operation of the computer equipment, storage devices or software;

e. Any applications, utility programs, compilers, interpreters, and other software used to facilitate direct or indirect communication with the computer hardware, storage devices, or data to be searched;

f. Any physical keys, encryption devices, dongles and similar physical items that are necessary to gain access to the computer equipment, storage devices or data; and

g. Any passwords, password files, test keys, encryption codes or other information necessary to access the computer equipment, storage devices or data.

IV. CONCLUSION

60. Based on the facts and evidence presented in this affidavit, I believe there is probable cause to believe that fruits, instrumentalities and evidence of violations of Title 18 U.S.C. Sections 1037(a)(2) and(a)(3) (Fraud in Electronic Mail), Title 1 U. S.C. Section 1341 (Mail Fraud), Title 18 U.S.C. Section 1343 (Wire Fraud), Title 18 U.S.C. Section 1028(A) (Aggravated ID Theft), and Title 18 U.S.C. Section 195(a)(1) (Money Laundering) as set forth in Attachment B, exist at: 1200 Western Avenue, Apartment 17E, Seattle, WA, 98101, and in computers and/or other electronic storage devices located therein, and at Storage Unit A145, Public Storage Inc., 12465 Northup Way, Bellevue, WA 98005, and in computers and/or other electronic storage devices located therein.

KENNETH A. SCHMUTZ, Special Agent
Federal Bureau of Investigation

Subscribed to and Sworn to before me this 23 day of May, 2007.
MARY ALICE THEILER
United States Magistrate Judge

Reyes Affidavit

This is the Reyes Affidavit.

===========================

AFFIDAVIT

STATE OF WASHINGTON
COUNTY OF KING

SILVIA REYES, being first duly sworn on oath, deposes and says:

1. IDENTITY OF AFFIANT AND INTRODUCTION
1. I am a Special Agent (SA) with the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division (IRS-CI) and have been such since February, 2005. I am currently assigned to the Seattle, Washington field office. As a Special Agent, I have received specialized training in taxation, accounting, financial structuring and money laundering investigative techniques. Before becoming an SA with IRS-CI, I was employed for six years as a Special Agent for the Washington State Gambling Commission Financial Investigations Unit. In that position, I was responsible for conducting forensic audits of business and individuals' books and records, and also for conducting criminal and administrative investigations to detect violations of the Revised Code of Washington and the Washington Administrative Code.

2. I hold a Bachelor of Arts degree in Accounting, and a Master of Business Administration degree in Finance. In 2001 I obtained, and hold in good standing to date, a certificate of Certified Public Accounting from the Washington State Board of Accountancy and a certificate of Certified Fraud Examiner from the American Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.

3. I learned the facts set forth in this affidavit by reviewing documents referenced herein, and from information obtained from other law enforcement officers, including, in particular, Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Kenneth A. Schmutz, and United States Postal Inspector Joseph Stephenson.

4. Because this affidavit is submitted for the limited purpose of obtaining seizure warrants for the financial accounts and assets referenced herein, I have not included all details of every aspect of the investigation, but set forth only those facts I believe are necessary to establish cause for the issuance of the seizure warrants. Details of the facts summarized herein are set forth in the Application and Affidavit for Search Warrant of the residence and computers of Robert Alan Soloway, which is attached hereto and incorporated as if fully set forth herein. In addition, when I rely on statements made by others, such statements are set forth in substance and as pertinent facts.

H. SUMMARY OF THE CASE
5. The attached Application and Affidavit for Search Warrant establishes that from at least November 2003 Robert Alan Soloway ("Soloway") has committed offenses against the United States. Since at least November of 2003, Soloway has solely owned and operated a business, "Newport Internet Marketing," ("NIM"), that Soloway and NIM characterize as a "broadcast email" business. Solway and NIM advertise and sell what they describe as "broadcast email services" and a "broadcast email product." Soloway and NIM advertise the company and the services and products that they sell by sending bulk commercial e-mail messages (spam) over the Internet, and by publishing websites on the world wide web. In those spammed and website advertisements, Soloway and NIM make false and fraudulent representations about the products and services they sell, the "technical support" they purportedly provide, and the guarantees that they purportedly offer for their products. The spam messages that Soloway and NIM transmit over the Internet to advertise their company contain false and forged header information, and are relayed through the use of a network of proxy computers. Some of the forged headers contain e-mail addresses or domain names that belong to other real people and organizations, which makes it appear as though those other people or organizations are responsible for the spammed messages.

By conducting their operations in this way, Soloway and NIM have committed violations of federal laws, including Title 18 U.S.C. Sections 1037(a)(2) and (a)(3) (Fraud in Connection with Electronic Mail), Title 18 U.S.C. Section 1341 (Mail Fraud), Title 18 U.S.C. Section 1343 (Wire Fraud), Title 18 U.S.C. Section 1028A (Aggravated ID Theft), and Title 18 U.S.C. Section 1956(a)(1)(A)(i) (Money Laundering).

H. PURPOSE OF THE AFFIDAVIT

6. This affidavit is made in support of seizure warrants for the following accounts and assets:

Account Owner	Financial Institution	Account Number
Newport Internet Marketing	WestAmerica	05703285
Robert A Soloway	Wells Fargo	1506243243
Robert A Soloway	Epassporte.com	2153939
Robert A Soloway	Epassporte.com	2556723

These accounts are subject to seizure and forfeiture to the United States pursuant to Title 18, United States Code, 981(a)(1)(C), as proceeds of wire fraud and mail fraud, offenses that constitute "specified unlawful activities," as that term is defined in Title 18, United States Code, Section 1956(c)(7).

7. These seizure warrants are sought on the grounds that there is probable cause to believe that the listed accounts and assets constitute or are derived from the proceeds of violations of Title 18 U.S.C. Section 1341 (Mail Fraud) and Title U.S.C. Section 1343 (Wire Fraud).

8. In addition there is probable cause to believe that Robert A Soloway has laundered the proceeds of these transactions in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1956, and that they are therefore subject to civil forfeiture in accordance with Title 18, United States Code, Section 981 (a)(1)(A) as property involved in money laundering.

IV. SOLOWAY DOING BUSINESS AS NIM
9. I have reviewed the financial transactions conducted by Soloway, and Newport Internet Marketing Corporation, also variously known as NIM, Newport IM, and NPR (hereinafter "NIM"). NIM was incorporated in California on November 24, 1998. The trade name "NIM Corporation" was registered with the Washington State Department of Licensing in December 2003.

10. NIM's California corporate registration has been suspended. NIM has lost all corporate rights and powers for failure to meet statutory filing requirements in either the California Secretary of State's Office or the California Franchise Tax Board.

11. Washington State law requires a foreign organization, being those formed in a state other then Washington, to submit an application for Certificate of Authority to do Business in Washington. The Washington State Secretary of State's Office has no record of receiving the statutorily required application or issuing a Certificate of Authority to do Business in Washington to NIM.

12. During my review of the financial transactions conducted by Soloway and NIM, I examined the control of the corporation, the adherence to corporate formalities, the use of the corporation's assets, and the ability to obligate the corporation. I found that Soloway was the sole shareholder of NIM, and he alone held ownership, financial, interest, and control of the corporate assets. In addition, I found that Soloway routinely commingled personal and corporate assets and liabilities.

13. Although the legal entity is no longer in good standing, and never obtained authorization to operate within Washington State, Soloway has continued to represent NIM as. a separate and distinct legal entity. Based on my knowledge, training, and experience I believe that the appearance of a corporation was maintained in an attempt to shield. Soloway from any liability resulting from the fraudulent activity in which Soloway is engaged. The information summarized herein will establish probable cause to seize the property of Robert Alan Soloway and Newport Internet Marketing as set forth below.

V. FINANCIAL INVESTIGATION
14. I have reviewed business formation documents, documentation related to the purchase and sale of personal assets, and personal and business invoices, bank records, loan applications, credit reports, and credit card records as fully detailed in the body of this Affidavit and the attached Affidavit in Support of Search Warrant. Based upon the information I reviewed, the proceeds generated from the spam and related mail and wire fraud is the primary source of income for NIM.

15. In addition, based on the deposits into accounts controlled by Soloway, and the source of payments on debts owed by Soloway, I determined that NIM is his primary source of income. I found no additional paychecks or other indications of earnings, no records on file with Washington State Employment Security, or any other 12 documentation normally found for wage earners.

16. The information given by Soloway in a deposition taken on October 26, 2005, supports my review and evaluation. In the October 26, 2005 deposition the following questions were asked of, and answered by Soloway:

Q: Can you give me your approximate dates of employment with NIM?
A: It's the only employment I've bad in my life. So you can say that I've never worked for anybody. It's only been my company.

Q: And you began in approximately 1996?
A: Correct. When I was about 16 or so. So that's the only occupation I've had.

Q: You stated that you were the sole employee of NIM?
A: Correct. There are no employees besides myself.

Q: Are there any other officers or directors?
A: No.

17. The information given by Soloway also supports my findings that he is sole shareholder fo NIM, and that he alone held ownership, financial interests, and control of the corporate assets and liabilities.

18. My financial, investigation also included a review of the bank account records of Soloway and NIM, as provided by the respective banks.

19. NIM's bank records obtained from WestAmerica Bank (formerly The Bank of the Redwoods) indicates that account # ****03285 was opened on January 4, 1999, and remains open with Soloway as the only individual with signature authority on the account.

20. Newport Internet Marketing's bank records obtained from Premierwest Bank indicate that account *****4139 was opened on May 2, 2003 and closed on May_ 28, 2004. Soloway was the only_ individual with signature authority on the account.

21. The records provided by the WestAmerica and Premierwest Bank identify, specific items deposited into the accounts. These deposit items include wire transfers, checks, money orders, and cash.

22. The individual items deposited into Premierwest Bank account **4139 consistently have comments on the memo lines stating, "Broadcast e-mail software," "E-mail marketing," and "Advertising," indicating that they represent payment for the sale of e-mail services offered by Newport Internet Marketing and proceeds from the sale of software.

23. The individual deposit items into Premierwest Bank account #****1234 consist primarily of disbursements from PayPal, an internet based money transmitter service. The deposit items into Premierwest Bank account #******2676 deposit items include disbursements from PayPal and individual checks that also have comments on the memo lines stating, "Broadcast e-mail software," "E-mail marketing," and "Advertising," indicating that they represent payment for the sale of e-mail services offered by Newport Internet Marketing and proceeds from the sale of software.

24. The WestAmerica Account # ****03285 primarily contained deposits from credit card merchants such as Novus, American Express, and Bankcard Services. I have reviewed the NIM websites detailed in the Affidavit in Support of Search Warrant, and have verified that the credit cards listed above are accepted forms of payment. I reviewed the merchant credit card applications provided by the various credit card companies and verified that NIM represented that these credit card payments were to be accepted by its internet-based business. In addition, I reviewed the individual transactions within a daily batch deposit from the credit card merchants and concluded that the merchant deposits were from customers who purchased product or services from NIM and paid via credit card.

25. From the bank records, investment ' account statements, and various financial documents described and referenced within this affidavit, I have determined that Soloway and NIM's fraud and spamming scheme, described fully in the Affidavit for Search Warrant, generated income in excess of $ 1.0 million from 2003 through 2006. Based on information available at this time, I have determined that the proceeds were deposited in the accounts held by Soloway and NIM as follows:

Financial Institution	Acct.	2003	2004	2005	2006	Total
Bank of the Redwoods	3285	268,401.59	251,442.66	302,736.49	216,449.39	1,039,030.13
Premier West Bank	4139	8,617.93	2,370.00	0.00	0.00	10,987.93
Premier West Bank	2676	11,086.26	0.00	0.00	0.00	11,086.26
Premier West Bank	1234	10,035.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	10,035.00
PayPal	Multi.					81,836.33
Charles Schwab & Co	7454	0.00	0.00	10,000.00	0.00	10,000.00
Premier West Bank	1681	116,161.39	0.00	0.00	0.00	116,161.39
Washington Mutual	6423	5,862.67	10, 840.00	0.00	0.00	16, 702.67
Washington Mutual	6128	0.00	207,134.02	97,793.87	0.00	304,927.89
Wells Fargo	8814	0.00	23,080.18	0.00	0.00	23,080.18
Wells Fargo	6263	0.00	23,188.41	0.03	0.00	23,181.44
Wells Fargo	141	0.00	0.00	25,100.33	0.00	25,1003.33
Wells Fargo	3243	0.00	0.00	0.00	15,128.81	15,128.81
Wells Fargo	8175	0.00	0.00	0.00	100.38	100.38
Sound Community Bank	2856	0.00	0.00	1,262.55	180.00	1,442.55
Epassporte.com	3939	0.00	0.00	240.00	40,582.00	40,822.00
TOTAL DEPOSITS		420,164.84	518,055.27	437,133.27	272,440.58	1,647,793.96

26. In addition to NIM bank records I have reviewed e-commerce accounts. These accounts allow payments and money transfers to be made through the Internet. E-commerce accounts serve as an electronic alternative to traditional paper methods such as checks and money orders.

27. The e-commerce accounts I reviewed include Google Merchant, epassporte.com, PayPal, and E-Bay records that were provided by the respective companies. I reviewed the account registration information for these accounts and noted that the accounts were registered to one or more of the following: Newport Internet Marking, NIM Corp, Robert A. Soloway, Bob Soloway, R. Soloway, and to e-mail accounts known to be used by Soloway with an address of 1200 Western Avenue Seattle, WA, as fully detailed in the Affidavit for Application of a Search Warrant.

28. The review of e-commerce accounts included PayPal accounts, which facilitates the transfer of funds between two parties. Between 2003 and 2006, Soloway opened eighteen PayPal Accounts, each registered to a separate e-mail address. Nine of these accounts were designated as business accounts and nine were designated as personal accounts.

29. I reviewed the transactions posted to the accounts and noted that the income funds included comments stating, "Broadcast e-mail software," "E-mail marketing," and "Advertising," indicating that the transactions represent payment for e-mail services sold by Newport Internet Marketing and proceeds from the sale of software.

30. From the PayPal records described in the paragraphs above; I have determined that the electronic mail spamming scheme described herein generated deposits in excess of $81,000 from 2003 through 2006 that were deposited in PayPal accounts. Based on information available at this time, I have determined that the proceeds were. deposited into the accounts as summarized below:

Registered to:	Account Number	Opened	Total
nimccyberservices.com	1989915275618990000	10/17/03	20,008.83
rsoloway@runbox.com	1340634501436140000	02/02/05	7,500.00
theemailcompany@mailshack.com	1895180423547220000	10/11/06	154.00
thebroadcastcompany@mailshack.com	1245168892165820000	10/11/06	808.00
marketingassociates@mailshack.com	1368592183099080000	10/13/06	139.00
emailmarketing@mailshack.com	1268876056812220000	10/13/06	590.00
broadcastmarketing@mailshack.com	1455553951259740000	10/14/06	195.00
marketingassociates@nerdshack.com	1350256294236530000	12/17/06	433.19
TOTAL RECEIVED			81,836.33

31. In addition to the funds received in relation to the spam scheme, the transaction comments also indicated that Soloway received funds related to the sale of personal goods. The volume and duplicative items indicate that Soloway's Ebay business included the sale of electronic goods such as video games, game consoles, and clothing.

32. In addition, I noted that in 2003 Soloway's account, registered to e-mail support@newportmarketing.com, contained 270 payments to other individuals totaling approximately $61,573. The comments for these transactions include, "Mailing to million," "Mailing to 8 million," "Mailing Services," "Software Development," and "Resending". The payments and corresponding comments. indicate that Soloway paid individuals and businesses to send electronic mail on his-behalf.

33. I reviewed additional withdrawals and transfers out of the PayPal accounts. I noted that the funds were withdrawn from the Paypal accounts through checks, transfers to personal and business bank accounts, and through credit card payments made to cards held by Robert A Soloway. The transfer of funds between business and personal accounts in this manner further indicates that Soloway routinely disregarded the legal corporate entity that he had established, and indiscriminately commingled business and personal funds.

34. I have further reviewed the distributions made from Soloway's bank accounts and e-commerce accounts, and have identified payments made to businesses and individuals that supported and promoted the continued operation of the fraud and spamming schemes. These financial transactions represent the proceeds of violations of specified unlawful activities including, but not limited to violations of Title 18 U.S.C., Section 1341 (Mail Fraud), and Title 18, U.S.C. 1343 (Wire Fraud).

35. During the course of the scheme Soloway registered multiple internet domains and leased space on internet servers to continue the operation of his internet-based business. The payments made to these service providers were made to promote and carry on the specified unlawful activities, namely mail and wire fraud. The records that I have reviewed indicate that Soloway paid for these services with credit cards, through internet transactions.

36. I have identified the credit card payments made by Soloway and determined that the funds used to pay the credit card payments originated in whole or in part from accounts containing funds from the fraud and spamming activity in which Soloway was engaged; specifically, that the funds originated from the accounts for which I am now seeking seizure warrants based on this affidavit. Details of those payments include the following, regarding credit card payments made from 2004 - 2005:

Payments made from West America account 05703285:
Bank of America Visa: $16,775.77
Bank One Visa $412.34
Capital One Visa $2,072.
Chase Visa $54,568.
Click-to-Pay Visa $69,029.97
Discover E-Pay $9,201.50
MBNA Visa $6,011.86
Total: $158,071.84
Payments made from Wells Fargo account 1506243243:
On-line payments to Visa Cards $14,602.00
Payments made from Epassporte.com accounts:
withdrawal to Wells Fargo account $13,448.00
withdrawal to West America account $36,960.77

37. I reviewed the transactions that posted between December 2003 and January 2007 to Soloway's American Express, Business Platinum Card ****1005. I identified the following transactions as payments posted for server hosting services, internet domain name registration, and debt collection. The role that these services played in the fraud and spam scheme is fully detailed in the Affidavit for Application of a Search Warrant. The individual transactions are summarized below:

Paid To:	Primary Service	Transactions	Total
AIT, Computer Network	Server hosting	1	149.88
Cierra Group, Computer Network	Server hosting	6	521.3
Layered Technologies, Server Services	Server hosting	2	237
Singlehop, Server hosting	Server hosting	3	407
Sun Net, Inc. ISP Hosting Services	Server hosting	3	3350
Zipservers,.Commercial Equipment	Server hosting	6	448.8
Direct Debit Collection	Collections	7	380
Network Solutions, Internet Domain Name	Domain reg.	6	209.94
Register.com, Domain Name Register	Domain reg.		133.7
	TOTAL		5837.62

38. I reviewed the transactions that posted between December 2005 and January 2007 to Soloway's JPMorgan Chase Bank Visa Credit Card ***5127. I identified the transactions below as payments posted for server hosting services, internet domain name registration, and related activities for purposes of promoting and carrying on the fraud and scheme.

Paid To	Primary Service	Transactions	Total
NoBull Server	Server hosting	5	954.51
Cologuys	Server hosting	11	1,650.00
Millenium Digital Media	ISP	13	2,506.87
AOL Services	Internet Service	6	145.40
Constant Contact	E-mail marketing	9	310.00
Dot. Domainregistation	Domain registration	1	8.50
Epassporte	Cyber bank	42	12,605.75
Google	Advertising	5	474.56
Inflolink	Server hosting	1	121.84
Interweb Technologies	Server hosting	7	2,114.61
Jeonnect Services	Fax & voicemail	12	180.00
Krypt Technologies	Server hosting	13	1,409.36
Moniker Online Services	Domain registration	1	18.99
Primus Telegroup	ISP	13	353.89
Register. corn	Domain registration		163.69
WesternUnion	Money transmitter	55	17,202.40
Xdrive.com	Online storage	3	59.70
		TOTAL	40,280.07

39. I reviewed the transactions'that posted between December 2005 and January 2007 to Soloway's JPMorgan Chase Bank Visa Credit Card ***0918. I identified the transactions below as payments posted for server hosting services, internet domain name registration, and related activities for purposes of promoting and carrying on the fraud and spam scheme.

Paid To	Primary Service	Transactions	Total
Krypt Technologies	Web Hosting	13	1,599.24
Western Union	Money Transmitter	1	202.00

During the course of the scheme Soloway shipped his software product to consumers. I have identified payments for shipping services provided by FedEx, a commercial interstate carrier. The payments to FedEx were made primarily, by credit card. Each individual transaction potentially represents a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1341 as fully detailed in the Affidavit for Application of a Search Warrant.

41. Between December 2003 and December 2006, Soloway shipped out approximately 2,760 shipments utilizing FedEx, totaling $53,857 as documented by individual transactions posted to Soloway's American Express, Business Platinum Card ****1005.

42. During the course of the scheme Soloway operated NIM from 1200 Western Avenue, Apartment E17, Seattle, WA, which is an apartment in Harbor Steps Apartments. Rent payments made to Harbor Steps Apartments allowed Soloway to promote and carry on the specified unlawful activity. The funds to pay the rent originated in whole or part from the fraud and spam activity. I have identified these payments, made primarily by checks and credit cards.

43. Between December 2005 and December 2006, Soloway initiated 27 rent payments totaling $35,283 to Harbor Steps through rentpayment.com. Soloway utilized an internet website, various credit cards and varied the amounts paid. Based on my training, knowledge, and experience, I know this activity is consistent with individuals trying to conceal or disguise the source or nature of their income. I have detailed below the 2006 rent payments made through rentpayment.com below:

Payment Date	Amount	Credit Card	Ending Digit
01/04/06	1,855.00	Master Card	75
01/04/06	900.00	Visa	12
02/06/06	1,840.00	Visa	3178
02/06/06	915.00	Visa	12
03/05/06	2,094.37	Visa	3338
03/05/06	900.00	Visa	9
04/06/06	1,663.14	Master Card	23
04/06/06	831.57	Visa	12
05/08/06	1,800.00	Master Card	23
05/08/06	860.99	Visa	12
06/05/06	1,850.00	Master Card	23
06/05/06	976.23	Visa	12
07/05/06	1,800.00	Master Card	75
08/05/06	2,000.00	Master Card	75
08/05/06	925.99	Visa	12
09/06/06	2,087.99	Visa	7351
09/06/06	1,000.00	Visa	12
10/05/06	1,900.00	Visa	7351
10/05/06	950.00	Visa	12
10/27/06	900.00	Visa	12
10/27/06	1,802.15	Master Card	75
12/05/06	1,700.00	Master Card	75
12/05/06	850.00	Visa	12
12/10/06	125.65	Visa	3178

44. In addition, I have identified payments to the storage unit companies. Shurgard and Public Storage. In a deposition given by Soloway on July 27, 2004 he stated that he utilized a storage unit to store business records and one to store personal property. I identified 10 payments made in 2006 on Soloway's JPMorgan Chase Bank Visa Credit Card ***5127; two payments to Shurgard totaling $269.19 and eight payments to Public Storage totaling $1,111.00.

VI. CONCLUSION
45. Based on my training and experience and the information set forth herein and in the Application and Affidavit in Support of Search. Warrant, attached hereto and to incorporated by reference herein, there is probable. cause to believe that the income earned by NIM, and therefore Soloway, and contained within financial and bank accounts controlled by Soloway, constitutes income derived from the proceeds of specified unlawful activities, committed in violation of federal laws including Title 18 United States Code, Sections 1341 and 1343 (Mail Fraud and Wire Fraud). In addition the accounts identified for seizure were used to credit card bills which in turn were used for purchases to promote mail fraud and wire fraud, and therefore the accounts are forfeitable as property involved in money laundering transactions.

Special Agent S. Reyes, Affiant
United States Treasury, Internal Revenue Service

AFFIDAVIT subscribed and sworn to before me this 23rd day of May, 2007.

MARY ALICE THEILER
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

Search Warrant Return

This document is a copy of the actual search warrant executed. What's interesting here are the last two pages, which contain the receipts for what was taken in the search warrant execution.

Items seized include:

• 4 monitors (including one plasma monitor)
• 76 men's coats, jackets, and shirts
• 27 pair of shoes
• 24 pair of sunglasses
• 4 telephones
• $50 SpaFinder gift certificate

Search Warrant Return

This is the return of the search warrant from its execution.

The interesting stuff is on the last two pages. All of the items seized appear to be business documents.