Russian news site MosNews.Com reports that infamous Russian spammer Vardan Kushnir was found dead in his apartment on Sunday, having been apparently beaten to death.

Kushnir reportedly headed several companies, including the Center for American English, the New York English Centre, and the Centre for Spoken English, that sent significant amounts of spam in Russia. According to Wikipedia.org, the "American Language Center was the most prominent and the most famous spammer in Russia around 2002-2003."Kushnir's alleged spamming reportedly brought retaliation and threats.

From the look of it, someone finally took action. Perhaps Kushnir was a victim of vigilantism. Or maybe he angered the Russian mafia.

It's tempting to say that Kushnir got what he deserved. But remember that being annoying is not a capital crime. (If he ran afoul of organized criminals, I suppose it's fair to say that crime pays until you get whacked.)

Let's hope this incident prompts everyone -- spammers and Internet users in general -- to behave better.