Six Joint ISP Suits Filed Against Spammers

Six joint lawsuits against hundreds of suspected spammers – said to have spammed for prescription drugs, herbal remedies, weight loss plans, and even some adult-oriented products – were filed March 9 in four states by Microsoft, America Online, EarthLink, and Yahoo, with the companies saying the accused include some of America's more notorious mass spammers.

These six actions are considered the first major Internet industry actions under the so-called CAN-SPAM Act which took effect January 1. The first CAN-SPAM suit was filed the first week of March, in which regional Internet service provider Hypertouch accused the owner of a Bob Vila Website of spamming Vila's Home Again Newsletter.

The companies filed in California, Virginia, Washington, and Georgia, accusing the spammers of various deceptive solicitations for products ranging from porn and prescription drugs to get-rich-quick schemes, banned CDs, mortgage loans, cable descramblers, and handheld devices. The suits also accuse the defendants of using open proxies to spam through third-party computers to hide the original sources of the spam, and of using false "from" e-mail addresses, according to the complaint filings. Some defendants are also accused of failing to include opt-out functions with several of their spammings.

"Congress gave us the necessary tools to pursue spammers with stiff penalties," AOL chief counsel and executive vice president Randall Boe told reporters, "and we in the industry didn't waste a moment moving with speed and resolve to take advantage of the new law."

CAN-SPAM critics have maintained that the law's weakness is that it continues to allow spammers entry because of its lack of an opt-in allowance, as opposed to the opt-out allowance that requires a recipient's rejection only after the message is sent.

One of the America Online suits named "John Does 1-40" as defendants," while another AOL suit named as a defendant David Wolfgang Hawke of Massachussetts. An EarthLink filing named as defendants "John Does 1-25." Two Microsoft filings named, respectively, JDO Media and "John Does 1-50 (doing business as the Super Viagra Group," while Yahoo's filing named as the defendants Eric Head, Matthew Head, and Barry Head – fictitious names, according to the Yahoo filing.

U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon),who co-authored CAN-SPAM with Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Montana), praised the lawsuits. "Today’s filing proves that the days of spamming with impunity are finally over," he 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."