Back on July 15, there was a 5-part moral question posed over at Educated Guesswork dealing with killing people and being happy to hear that someone was dead. I wrote an answer at the time as an intellectual exercise, and am somewhat bemused to find it having sudden practical application.
Russia’s most (in)famous spammer, Vardan Kushnir, 35, was dead in his apartment in downtown Moscow on Monday, July 25. Someone repeatedly smashed his head with a heavy object, authorities say, and then ransacked his entire apartment.
I understand that it's often considered poor form to celebrate at a funeral, and it was pointed out over at E.G. that it is forbidden in at least the Jewish tradition to be happy about the death of a fellow human, but since I have an airtight alibi (I was nowhere near Russia at the time) and am not Jewish, I'm going to go ahead and admit that this news brought a cheerful smile to my face. Being the kind, compassionate, law-abiding citizen that I am (you can stop snickering now), I would never have fatally bludgeoned the guy myself (well, that and the fact that true punishment requires the recipient to be alive to appreciate it), but I'd have to turn in my credentials as a Bastard Sysadmin if I ever stopped being happy at the death of a spammer.
Thanks to Bogdan for providing me with the news.