Just stumbled across this youtube video. This guy is a trip. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdTa9LiWGVM
Where do the backlinks come from?
There's absolutely nothing wrong with buying links if done correctly.
You're concerned that Google is going to interpret "<span>" as part of your anchor? Ummm...it's not. Don't worry about it.
Separate names with a comma.