$1 Billion Spam Lawsuit Filed Against Email Harvesters

[mandy]

The forces aligned against spam are taking a new tack in a lawsuit that targets the harvesters of e-mail addresses who sell their lists to the actual perpetrators of the spam. While there are many potential obstacles to the suit's success, spam opponents hope that it will make it more difficult and expensive for spammers to carry out their nefarious operations...

While there have been many skirmishes between spammers and antispammers over the years, this particular legal action is unusual in a few ways: For starters, the suit is for an eye-popping US$1 billion in damages. Also, it is the first time that this particular link in the spam chain has been targeted by legal action -- that is, the harvesters as opposed to the companies sending the e-mails or marketing the products. Finally, the suit was filed by a private company representing a coalition of Web users who oppose spam through Project Honey Pot...

full article: http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/A4A7...sive.xhtml