“Spam, Spam, Spam, chips and Spam,” said Monty Python. In their famous sketch, the canned meat was inescapable. And so linguistic history was made, and the universally loathed junk emails cluttering our inboxes became Spam.

It’s infuriating and it’s everywhere. But these days spammers should be careful or they’ll end up in the can themselves.

Robert Soloway, the US King of Spam, has pleaded guilty to charges of tax evasion and fraud. He now faces up to 26 years in prison – hopefully without internet privileges.

At his peak, Soloway was making US$300,000 a year from his spamming schemes. Not bad money for not much work, but spread over 26 years of sewing mailbags it supports the old adage that crime doesn’t pay.

The punishment for spamming is usually a fine. By pursuing criminal charges for Soloway, the US courts are taking a hard line.

We hope other spammers take note. Fewer penis enlargement emails, please – you’ll regret it in prison.

(Image: from janetgalore’s flickr stream)