2000

Sites 33

• Spam Wars Escalate in Round Two Attorney Pete Wellborn obtains Global Restraining Order against spammer Benchmark Print Supply, and seeks contempt sanctions. If successful this case will close down one of the most prolific US spammers. [PR Newswire]
• ISPs find spam verdict hard to swallow Internet service providers and permission-based marketing agencies are up in arms about the government's decision not to regulate against unsolicited commercial email or spam, as it's more commonly known. [Media Guardian] [Requires free registration.]
• In Defense of Spam No one will admit to liking spam -- the canned pseudo-meat or the unsolicited e-mail that bears its name. But despite the current efforts of governments in North America and Europe to get it back into the can, spam is destined to be, and should be, a fact of Internet life -- just like junk mail is in the real world. [E-Commerce Times]
• eBay To Get $1.2M in Spam Settlement eBay, Inc. said it will get $1.2 million (US$) under a lawsuit settlement with ReverseAuction.com, Inc., which had been accused of illegally obtaining eBay user IDs and addresses in order to send them unwanted and misleading e-mail. [E-Commerce Times]
• Junk e-mail eradicated? Online marketing - sometimes called spamming - is trying to clean up its act - so don't mention the S word. [BBC News]
• Verio's Alleged Spam is Temporarily Canned In a case where a U.S. District Court is upholding a registrar's right to protect people listed in its database, register.com Inc. won a preliminary injunction against Verio Inc. preventing the Web hosting company from mercilessly spamming its customers. [InternetNews]
• MSN Criticized For Open Spam Relays Responding to complaints that the Microsoft Network is allowing spammers to relay junk e-mail through MSN servers, the Mail Abuse Prevention System (MAPS) has added several MSN systems to its notorious anti-spam blacklist. The action could potentially disrupt emails from thousands of legitimate MSN subscribers. [InternetNews]
• Major ISPs Boot Spammers As a result of intense pressure from anti-spam activists, major ISPs are taking steps to ensure their salespeople do not sign contracts with companies that send unsolicited commercial e-mail. [E-Commerce Times]
• Report: E-Mail Taking Hold as E-Commerce Tool A survey released this week by Forrester Research, Inc. reports that e-tailers are now using electronic mail as a major means of generating repeat business from customers. [E-Commerce Times]
• Spam Strikes Back Do marketers have the right to flood the e-mail boxes of unsuspecting Internet users with unwanted e-mail, otherwise known as spam? One Washington state judge has effectively said yes -- and has sparked an instant debate about the constitutionality of laws that limit the use of spam. [E-Commerce Times]
• U.S. House Approves Anti-Spam Bill The U.S. House of Representatives voted almost unanimously Tuesday that spam should be unlawful. [E-Commerce Times]
• Anti-Spam Bill Clears Key Hurdle An anti-spam bill that could have a wide-reaching effect on online marketing is one step closer to becoming law following the U.S. House Commerce Committee's vote Wednesday. [E-Commerce Times]
• Online Marketers Propose Spam Controls In a bid to ward off U.S. government regulation, a coalition of online marketing heavyweights announced plans Monday to propose standards meant to ease consumer concerns about spam and online privacy. [E-Commerce Times]
• Report: E-Mail Marketing To Reach $7.3B by 2005 Jupiter Communications released a report on Monday predicting that worldwide direct e-mail marketing will balloon from $164 million (US$) in 1999 to $7.3 billion in 2005. [E-Commerce Times]
• Europe to ban spam? An influential body of data protection experts could be about to recommend that Europe bans spam. [The Register]
• PSINet caught red-handed with spam contract Stumbling ISP PSINet has owned up to a contract with a sender of bulk unsolicited commercial email - known to you and me as spam. It has long been a suspicion that some ISPs have had illicit contracts with spammers, despite a publicly stated policy against such practices. [The Register]
• Consumer watchdogs fail the Spam Test Report on European consumer watchdog groups with no spam policies. [The Register]
• AOL spammer pleads guilty to forgery A man who spammed millions of AOL subscribers with pornography and get-rich-quick schemes has pleaded guilty to second-degree forgery in a US District court. [The Register]
• Spam? Not us, says 24/7 A US District Court in Denver has issued a temporary restraining order on behalf of online marketing gurus, 24/7, against the Mail Abuse Prevention System (MAPS). [The Register]
• MSN blacklisted for harbouring spammers Microsoft's vastly interconnected ISP and portal, MSN, has become easy prey for spammers due to several poorly-protected mail (SMTP) servers to which outsiders can connect easily for a free, anonymous ride, according to a bulletin on the Mail Abuse Prevention System (MAPS) Web site. [The Register]
• Verizon digs out from spam blizzard Major American ISP and Gargantuan telecomms generalist Verizon was deluged with so much spam last week that its servers were unable to function at times, and left customers with something like a 24-hour e-mail delivery delay. [The Register]
• Despite Foes, Spam Thrives Even though there are now some state laws closely regulating spamming, the practice of sending mass unsolicited e-mails has acquired a sheen of respectability, and in some quarters is enthusiastically referred to as "sending an e-mail blitz." [E-Commerce Times]
• Microsoft to rewrite marketing labeled as spam Microsoft today said it plans to revise a notification message accompanying a test version of its new MSN Explorer software, bowing to criticism that the feature resembles self-promoting spam. [CNET.com]
• PSINet cans spammer, pledges reforms Attempting to distance itself from a spam controversy, PSINet cut off service to an admitted sender of unsolicited commercial email and pledged to amend its spam policy and educate its sales force. [CNET.com]
• House approves anti-spam legislation The House of Representatives today passed the first bill that will hold email marketers accountable for the influx of bulk unsolicited email, commonly known as "spam." [CNET.com]
• Industry group cooks up rules for spam Complaints about unsolicited commercial email have prompted an industry coalition to come up with standards designed to quell consumer concerns and keep regulators at bay. [CNET.com]
• Study finds filters catch only a fraction of spam Spam filters used by some popular Internet email providers weed out only a fraction of the junk they're supposed to but almost never bounce legitimate messages, according to a new study. [CNET.com]
• New MSN feature encourages spamming friends The latest test version of Microsoft's MSN Explorer is setting off sparks over a feature that converts MSN email accounts to Hotmail, as well as over an accompanying spam-like missive that encourages customers to send an advertisement-laden email to friends and colleagues. [CNET.com]
• IKEA enlists friends for email publicity Home furnishing retailer IKEA has a new spin on spam, recruiting friends of friends to get the word out about its new store opening in the San Francisco Bay area. [CNET.com]
• AT&T admits spam offense after contract exposed AT&T acknowledged Thursday that it had violated its own spam policy by providing Web-hosting services to a purported sender of unsolicited commercial email. [CNET.com]
• PSINet assailed as spam contract surfaces Troubled Internet service provider PSINet acknowledged providing access to a sender of bulk unsolicited commercial email, bolstering critics' claims that some of the world's largest ISPs knowingly do business with spammers in violation of stated anti-spam policies. [CNET.com]
• Spam Warfare Blacklists, lawsuits, hate sites. Bulk e-mail is never a dull business. [Forbes]
• Mega-ISPs And Spam Support Discussion about pink contracts. [Slashdot]