Judge, jury, and spam executioner: tech exec sets his sights on fighting e-mail menaces.(Black Digerati)

When Paul Q. Judge left Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in 1995, he was on his way to college to become a chemical engineer, or so he thought. As the chief technology officer of Atlanta-based CipherTrust Inc. recalls, the plan seemed logical because the major industries in his hometown at the time were "universities, government, and chemical plants."

But three years at Morehouse College in Atlanta (where he earned a B.S. in computer science) and graduate work in network content distribution at Georgia Institute of Technology set Judge on a different course. What intrigued him about the Internet--a computer environment he overlooked in high school--was something he says most …