US net providers pursue spammers
Four of the largest internet providers in the US have filed six lawsuits against hundreds of spammers.

Microsoft, AOL, Earthlink and Yahoo are joining forces to fight the millions of junk e-mails that are sent out every day. The companies said the defendants include some of the nation's most prolific large-scale spammers. The providers are taking advantage of new legislation passed in the US earlier this year.

Shared resources

"Congress gave us the necessary tools to pursue spammers with stiff penalties, and we in the industry didn't waste a moment moving with speed and resolve to take advantage of the new law," said Randall Boe, AOL's top lawyer.

The four providers have shared information and resources in an effort to clamp down on the menace of spam. They are helped in large part by new US legislation passed at the beginning of the year that addresses some of the tricks spam gangs use to get their unwanted messages to millions of internet users.

The law, called the CAN_SPAM Act, demands that unsolicited e-mails must include a mechanism for recipients to indicate that they do not want future mass mailings.

It also prohibits spammers from disguising their identity by using a false return address or misleading subject line.

Huge problem

Finally the legislation aims to bring a halt to the practice of harvesting addresses from web sites.

Spam is a huge worldwide problem, accounting for a minimum of 40% of all e-mails sent.

According to anti-spam activists Spamhaus, 90% of junk e-mails can be traced to just 200 known spam gangs.

[Full article available here - Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/technology/3499230.stm]