http://news.com.com/2100-1024-5172038.html

Major ISPs unite in spam
fight

By Marguerite
Reardon

Staff Writer, CNET News.com

Story last modified March 10, 2004, 10:14 AM PST

America Online, Microsoft, EarthLink and Yahoo have teamed up to file the
first major industry lawsuits under the new federal antispam law.

Citing the Can-Spam
Act, the companies filed the combined six lawsuits against hundreds of
defendants in federal courts in California, Georgia, Virginia and Washington
state. The complaints charge the defendants with sending hundreds of millions
of bulk e-mail messages to customers of the four networks.

In the complaints, the
companies claim that the accused spammers have sent deceptive solicitations for
a variety of products, including get-rich-quick schemes, prescription drugs,
pornography, instructions for conducting spam campaigns, banned CDs, mortgage
loans, university diplomas, cable descramblers and other common types of
unsolicited e-mail.

They also
claim that the defendants have used open proxies, which send spam through
third-party computers to disguise their point of origin, and used false
"from" e-mail addresses. They claim the e-mails were sent without
physical addresses. And the messages failed to include an electronic
unsubscribe option. Each allegation is a violation
of the Can-Spam law.

U.S. Senators Conrad Burns,
R-Mont., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., who wrote the Can-Spam Act, applauded the
lawsuits.

"Today’s filing
proves that the days of spamming with impunity are finally over," Wyden
said in a statement. "These suits will have to be settled in a court of
law, but I believe this action marks the dawn of a new day for spammers--one in
which they face real accountability."

Can-Spam was passed in late
2003 to help regulate
spam by threatening various forms of punishment, including possible prison
sentences, against individuals and companies responsible for sending unsolicited
e-mail. The law does not give individuals the
right to sue. Only Internet service providers and government officials can
file suit.

These are not the first
suits to be filed. Earlier this month, Internet service provider Hypertouch
filed a lawsuit in California, accusing BVWebTies, the company that owns
and operates BobVila.com, and one of its partners, BlueStream Media, of
breaching guidelines of the Can-Spam Act.

So far, the Can-Spam law
has done little to discourage spammers. A study
released in February found that only 3 percent of bulk commercial e-mail
included a valid U.S. postal mail address for the sender and a link to opt out
of future messages, as required by the federal mandate.