Microsoft Corp. and Scott Richter today announced they reached a full settlement of Microsoft’s claims against Mr. Richter and his company OptInRealBig.com LLC. As part of its effort to fight spam, Microsoft filed a lawsuit against Mr. Richter and his company in December 2003, when he was ranked one of the top spammers in the world. In July 2005, Mr. Richter was removed from the Register of Known Spam Operators maintained by the Spamhaus Project, a leading anti-spam and consumer advocacy organization.

The settlement is conditioned upon dismissal of the bankruptcy cases filed in March by Mr. Richter and OptInRealBig at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Denver. Mr. Richter and OptInRealBig plan to file today a motion to dismiss these cases.

As part of the settlement, Mr. Richter and his company agreed to pay $7 million to Microsoft. The settlement also stipulates that Mr. Richter, his company and his affiliates will continue to comply fully with all federal and state anti-spam laws, including the U.S. CAN-SPAM (Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing) Act, and will not send spam to any person who has not confirmed a willingness to receive the e-mail.