Top E-Mail Providers Sue Spammers Under New Law
l33tdawg: Much thanks to d4_sn0wm4n for the links.
Four of the nation's largest e-mail providers said on Wednesday they had sued hundreds of online marketers under a new federal law that outlaws the worst kinds of "spam" e-mail.
The lawsuits -- filed by EarthLink Inc. (ELNK.O: Quote, Profile, Research) , Microsoft Corp. (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) , Yahoo Inc. (YHOO.O: Quote, Profile, Research) and Time Warner Inc. (TWX.N: Quote, Profile, Research) unit America Online -- mark the first time the law has been tested since it took effect in January.
Six suits were filed in federal courts in California, Georgia, Virginia and Washington state. They claim the defendants obscured their identities and used other deceptive tactics to send out hundreds of millions of pitches for get-rich-quick schemes, pornography and other types of spam.
Company officials said the CAN-SPAM Act, passed last year, makes their fight easier by imposing national standards and increasing penalties to force spammers out of business.
"The lawsuits we file now have some added punch they didn't have before," AOL General Counsel Randall Boe told reporters at a news conference.
Spam accounted for 62 percent of all e-mail in February 2004, up from 50 percent six months earlier, according to anti-spam company Brightmail Inc. Internet providers say the unwanted traffic drives up bandwidth costs and frustrates customers.
