September 29, 2004
Microsoft and Amazon announced on Tuesday that they joined forces to put
phishers and spammers into new legal problems.
The two Seattle area-based companies filed one joint lawsuit Monday and separately filed several others against both named and unnamed companies and individuals they accused of trying to defraud consumers by spoofing Amazon's Web sites and domain name.
"Today's alliance should be yet another wake-up call for spammers and phishers that the industry is teaming up, pooling resources, and sharing investigative information to put them out of business," said Brad Smith, Microsoft's general counsel, in a statement.
Together, Amazon and Microsoft filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Seattle against Ontario-based Gold Disk Canada, Inc., and co-defendants Barry Head and his two sons, Eric and Matthew. Gold Disk and the Heads allegedly sent millions of e-mails from Microsoft's Hotmail service that purported to be from Amazon.com, Hotmail.com, and other domains.
According to Microsoft, the three Heads opened thousands of Hotmail accounts, then sent fewer than 100 spam messages through each "in a conscious effort to avoid detection." The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for trademark violation and cyber-piracy, and claims that the Heads broke multiple state and federal laws.
This isn't the first time that Gold Disk Canada has been on the receiving end of an anti-spam lawsuit. In March, Yahoo filed suit against Eric, Matthew, and Barry Head -- who collectively Yahoo dubbed "The Head Operation" -- in federal court for sending more than 94 million spam messages to Yahoo Mail users in January 2004, alone. That case is still pending.
Separately, Amazon filed three lawsuits in Seattle's King County Superior Court against "John Does" accused of phishing schemes. All three suits seek unspecified damages and an injunction to halt the phishing attacks.
For its part, Microsoft filed against Leonid (Leo) Radvinsky and his Chicago-based businesses Activsoft, Inc., and Cybertania, Inc.. The lawsuit alleges that Radvinsky sent millions of illegal and deceptive e-mail messages to MSN Hotmail customers, including messages that spoofed Amazon.com. Radvinsky, who was at the receiving end of a lawsuits filed in 2003 and 2004 by Amazon.com, could not be reached for comment.
"The best way to stop spammers and phishers is to hit them hard in the pocketbook," said Washington Attorney General Christine Gregoire, in a statement.
"I'm pleased to see Microsoft and Amazon.com team up. They pose a powerful legal threat and will send a strong message that there will be a high cost to pay for those who flood our mail boxes with irritating, offensive, and fraudulent junk mail."
Avivah Litan, a Gartner research director who covers phishing issues, agreed. "This has worked in the past [to stymie spammers and phishers]. They'd like to get back some of the money they've spent on fighting spam and phishing, and the courts are a good way to do that.
"Although spam and phishing defendants aren't likely to settle, they can't match Amazon and Microsoft when it comes to law firms," Litan added. "Amazon and Microsoft would like to not only go after the money stolen through phishing, but recover money lost to development costs on their end. Unfortunately, the money's probably hidden in some place like Latvia."
Litan didn't pick Latvia out of a hat. Most analysts estimate that half or more than half of all phishing attacks originate in Eastern European countries, particularly those that were once part of the former Soviet Union.
In the end, however, because most spam and phishing attacks go unpunished and companies end up eating the cost, when they can find a perpetrator, companies are likely to pounce. "Companies have whole staffs working on this that didn't exist three years ago," said Litan. "They're spending millions and millions fighting this, so it's not unreasonable for them to want some of that money back."
Source: C-Net News
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