mainsleazespam.com: CAN SPAM News Updates, July 17

The "You CAN SPAM Act" News, July 17 - July 23, 2005

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ISPs versus the zombies
The FTC has called on ISPs to identify zombies on their networks
    Internet service providers face mounting pressure to keep their networks free of pests--not only for the benefit of their customers, but also for the good of the Internet in general.
    In the next few months, ISPs in the United States will begin receiving reports on the zombies, or PCs open to control by hackers, that lurk on their networks. The data will be sent out by the Federal Trade Commission, which said in May that zombies have become such a serious problem that more industry action is required.
    Zombies are put to work to relay marketing spam and to send messages used in phishing scams, which attempt to steal sensitive personal data, for example. They have also been used to host the faked Web sites in phishing scams or to mount denial-of-service attacks against online businesses targeted by extortion schemes. In addition, they're used to compromise more PCs, which are added to the networks of zombies, called "botnets."
         C|Net News.com. July 19, 2005.

Feds Accuse Firms in Porn E-Mail Scheme

    Federal regulators accused seven companies Wednesday of hiring others to send illegal e-mails with pornographic messages to tempt consumers to visit adult Internet sites.
    The government said four of the firms already agreed to pay nearly $1.2 million to settle the charges, making it among the most aggressive government crackdowns on pornographic e-mail operations.
    The Federal Trade Commission described the practice as "electronic flashing" and said at least some of the unwanted e-mails were sent to children. The threat of children unwittingly receiving smut in their inboxes helped drive the U.S. government to impose restrictions on sending commercial e-mails last year.
         TBO.com AP News. July 20, 2005.

Scott Richter Spamhaus.org Listing Phased Out!
Following was posted by Steve Linford of Spamhaus.org July 19, 2005, in the newsgroup news.admin.net-abuse.email.
    "FYI: Many months ago Scott Richter gave Spamhaus his word he was really-really quitting the spam business, to instead build a solid COI business. Against the odds he appears to have pulled it off, we have not seen spam from Richter for so many months that his time is up... Richter is out of ROKSO."
    [Ed. Note. Scott Richter's history as one of the most prolific and unrepentant spammers on the planet has been well documented. He even appeared on Jon Stuart's Daily Show explaining his bulk email operations! If he has reformed and stopped spamming, it seems a singular event in the history of this dark period in the development of the Internet.]
         For more on Spamhaus.org and the ROKSO list of worst spammers, visit their web site.