AOL has filed an action targeting four Florida junk e-mailers who conspired with international spam operators based in Thailand. The move came after a year-long investigation into the spam ring.
Named in the suit are "Connor-Miller Software, Inc.", Charles Henry Miller Jr., Heidi Miller; and James Connor. The ISP is alleging violations of the Virginia Computer Crimes Act, the Federal Computer Fraud & Abuse Act, and State of Florida Common Law, and is seeking an injunction against the defendants and at least $1.6 million in damages.
The suit alleges a conspiracy among the defendants themselves, as well as third parties located overseas, to send tens of millions of junk e-mails with hypertext links advertising low-mortgage rate offers to AOL members. The more than 35 million spam e-mails cited by AOL's lawsuit generated approximately 1.5 million complaints from members, and violated AOL's "Unsolicited Bulk Email (UBE)" policy.
Randall Boe, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of AOL said:
"This lawsuit demonstrates AOL's strong and ongoing commitment to the fight against spam. We will pursue spammers, their accomplices, their co-conspirators, and anyone who operates on their behalf - no matter where they live. The bottom line is, if you are spamming AOL members - or helping someone who is - we will find you, and we will stop you."
AOL has already taken legal action against the defendants' alleged co-conspirators Jonathan Beyer and Joseph Conrad, who live in Thailand.
Earthlink's suit targets a multi-state spam ring in which 16 individuals and corporations sent out more than 250 million illegal junk e-mails. It follows an eighteen-month long investigation and a "John Doe" lawsuit filed in August last year that allowed Earthlink to identify the individuals involved.
According to the ISP, the "Alabama Spammers" represent a technically sophisticated criminal organization that "engaged in a massive scheme of theft, spamming and spoofing."
The lawsuit alleges that the defendants used a hierarchy of falsified names, false addresses and non-existent corporate entities to disguise the identities of individuals involved. To further hide their identities, the defendants used spam e-mails to direct people to dynamically hosted web sites that would disappear after advertising a product.
The suit charges the defendants with violating federal and state laws, including the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, and the Georgia Computer Systems Protection Act. The lawsuit also alleges that the defendants used stolen or falsified credit cards, identity theft, banking fraud and other illegal activities to fraudulently purchase internet accounts and send out their junk e-mails.
As in previous cases, EarthLink is asking for an injunction and unspecified damages.
Karen Cashion, Assistant General Counsel for EarthLink explained:
"Because spam imperils the integrity of the internet, EarthLink is aggressively pursuing litigation, technical solutions, consumer education and legislative support to stop these intrusive and illegal e-mails. Filing lawsuits against alleged spammers and seeking judgments that put them out of business is an important way that EarthLink helps preserve the internet experience for all users."