Yahoo, AOL and Others File Anti-Spam Lawsuit

Yahoo, America Online, EarthLink Inc., and Microsoft on Wednesday filed lawsuits against hundreds of defendants alleging violations of the new law against mass e-mails known as spam. Four of the Internet´s top companies and Internet Service Providers announced the filing of the suits under the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003, which went into effect Jan. 1.

The major Internet companies (which also are some of the major Internet search engines) are filing complaints which include:

• 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;
• Use of open proxies (sending spam through third-party computers to disguise their point of origin);
• Falsified “from” e-mail addresses (spoofing);
• Absence of a physical address in the e-mail;
• Absence of an electronic unsubscribe option.

All of these shadey email marketing practices are now deemed illegal and punishable by law under the CAN-SPAM Act.

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