ISP wins spam damages

EarthLink, a leading US Internet service provider, has won US$16.4mn damages from a spam ring based in Buffalo, New York. EarthLink also won a permanent injunction to prevent the spammers from sending bulk emails. The spam ring sent out over 825 million unsolicited e-mails via EarthLink’s Internet service. It was alleged that the spammers used stolen credit cards, identity theft, banking fraud and other illegal activities to fraudulently purchase Internet accounts and send out unsolicited, commercial emails. According to EarthLink, the spam included advertisements for computer virus scripts, ‘work at home’ and ‘get-rich-quick’ schemes, bulk email software and lists to be used by other spammers, and cable TV descramblers.