Verizon digs out from spam blizzard
- Major American ISP and Gargantuan telecomms generalist Verizon was deluged with so much spam last week that its servers were unable to function at times, and left customers with something like a 24-hour e-mail delivery delay. [The Register]
- http://www.theregister.co.uk/2000/12/13/verizon_digs_out_from_spam/

MSN blacklisted for harbouring spammers
- Microsoft's vastly interconnected ISP and portal, MSN, has become easy prey for spammers due to several poorly-protected mail (SMTP) servers to which outsiders can connect easily for a free, anonymous ride, according to a bulletin on the Mail Abuse Preven
- http://www.theregister.co.uk/2000/11/17/msn_blacklisted_for_harbouring_spammers/

Spam? Not us, says 24/7
- A US District Court in Denver has issued a temporary restraining order on behalf of online marketing gurus, 24/7, against the Mail Abuse Prevention System (MAPS). [The Register]
- http://www.theregister.co.uk/2000/11/17/spam_not_us_says/

AOL spammer pleads guilty to forgery
- A man who spammed millions of AOL subscribers with pornography and get-rich-quick schemes has pleaded guilty to second-degree forgery in a US District court. [The Register]
- http://www.theregister.co.uk/2000/12/12/aol_spammer_pleads_guilty/

Consumer watchdogs fail the Spam Test
- Report on European consumer watchdog groups with no spam policies. [The Register]
- http://www.theregister.co.uk/2000/06/06/consumer_watchdogs_fail_the_spam/

PSINet caught red-handed with spam contract
- Stumbling ISP PSINet has owned up to a contract with a sender of bulk unsolicited commercial email - known to you and me as spam. It has long been a suspicion that some ISPs have had illicit contracts with spammers, despite a publicly stated policy agains
- http://www.theregister.co.uk/2000/11/07/psinet_caught_redhanded_with_spam/

Europe to ban spam?
- An influential body of data protection experts could be about to recommend that Europe bans spam. [The Register]
- http://www.theregister.co.uk/2000/11/08/europe_to_ban_spam/

24/7 Media Snags Restraining Order Against MAPS
- Ad server and technology company 24/7 Media succeeded in getting a temporary restraining order against anti-spam non-profit Mail Abuse Prevention System, on behalf of 24/7's e-mail marketing subsidiary, 24/7 Exactis. [InternetNews]
- http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=514611

MAPS Wins First-Round in Spam Case
- A judge Tuesday denied Harris Interactive's request for a temporary restraining order that would have forced anti-spam organization Mail Abuse Prevention System to remove the online researcher from its "Realtime Blackhole List." [InternetNews]
- http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=433491

MSN turns users into spammers
- A change of address notification for new users generates MSN Explorer endorsements to colleagues and friends. Make that former friends. [ZDNet]
- http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-524188.html?legacy=zdnn

More accountability for spammers?
- New e-mail marketing standards promise to balance privacy and personalization. Can the industry police itself? Will it? [ZDNet]
- http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-524158.html?legacy=zdnn

Harris sues ISPs over spam blockade
- Polling giant claims ISPs have been duped into blocking millions of its e-mails in an anti-spam scam cooked up by a rival. [ZDNet]
- http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-522696.html

Insider slams Kiwi spam fighters
- ORBS' proactive approach to fighting bulk e-mail may actually help spammers. But the group's chief critic is under the gun, too. [ZDNet]
- http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-522890.html

E-mail Marketers Target Spam
- A group of 15 companies has announced that they will form a coalition to design e-mail standards to limit spam. Among the companies involved in the Responsible Electronic Communication. [PC World]
- http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,18486,00.asp

Verizon Online Users' E-Mail Problems Persist
- More than a week after its network buckled under a torrent of junk e-mail, and two days after the company vowed to fully restore service, customers of Verizon Communications Inc. yesterday continued to suffer severe problems exchanging messages over the I
- http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A62460-2000Dec12

E-Mail Delays Plague Verizon Users
- Company Blames Network Troubles on a Flood of 'Spam' [Washington Post]
- http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A45239-2000Dec8

New MSN feature encourages spamming friends
- The latest test version of Microsoft's MSN Explorer is setting off sparks over a feature that converts MSN email accounts to Hotmail, as well as over an accompanying spam-like missive that encourages customers to send an advertisement-laden email to frien
- http://news.com.com/2100-1023-246260.html?legacy=cnet

AT&T admits spam offense after contract exposed
- AT&T acknowledged Thursday that it had violated its own spam policy by providing Web-hosting services to a purported sender of unsolicited commercial email. [CNET.com]
- http://news.com.com/2100-1023-248067.html?legacy=cnet

PSINet assailed as spam contract surfaces
- Troubled Internet service provider PSINet acknowledged providing access to a sender of bulk unsolicited commercial email, bolstering critics' claims that some of the world's largest ISPs knowingly do business with spammers in violation of stated anti-spam
- http://news.com.com/2100-1023-248211.html?legacy=cnet

Microsoft to rewrite marketing labeled as spam
- Microsoft today said it plans to revise a notification message accompanying a test version of its new MSN Explorer software, bowing to criticism that the feature resembles self-promoting spam. [CNET.com]
- http://news.com.com/2100-1023-246321.html?legacy=cnet

Industry group cooks up rules for spam
- Complaints about unsolicited commercial email have prompted an industry coalition to come up with standards designed to quell consumer concerns and keep regulators at bay. [CNET.com]
- http://news.com.com/2100-1023-245765.html?legacy=cnet

PSINet cans spammer, pledges reforms
- Attempting to distance itself from a spam controversy, PSINet cut off service to an admitted sender of unsolicited commercial email and pledged to amend its spam policy and educate its sales force. [CNET.com]
- http://news.com.com/2100-1023-248341.html?legacy=cnet

Report: E-Mail Marketing To Reach $7.3B by 2005
- Jupiter Communications released a report on Monday predicting that worldwide direct e-mail marketing will balloon from $164 million (US$) in 1999 to $7.3 billion in 2005. [E-Commerce Times]
- http://www.ecommercetimes.com/perl/story/3265.html

Online Marketers Propose Spam Controls
- In a bid to ward off U.S. government regulation, a coalition of online marketing heavyweights announced plans Monday to propose standards meant to ease consumer concerns about spam and online privacy. [E-Commerce Times]
- http://www.ecommercetimes.com/perl/story/4390.html

Despite Foes, Spam Thrives
- Even though there are now some state laws closely regulating spamming, the practice of sending mass unsolicited e-mails has acquired a sheen of respectability, and in some quarters is enthusiastically referred to as "sending an e-mail blitz." [E
- http://www.ecommercetimes.com/perl/story/3711.html

Anti-Spam Bill Clears Key Hurdle
- An anti-spam bill that could have a wide-reaching effect on online marketing is one step closer to becoming law following the U.S. House Commerce Committee's vote Wednesday. [E-Commerce Times]
- http://www.ecommercetimes.com/perl/story/3568.html

U.S. House Approves Anti-Spam Bill
- The U.S. House of Representatives voted almost unanimously Tuesday that spam should be unlawful. [E-Commerce Times]
- http://www.ecommercetimes.com/perl/story/3809.html

Spam Strikes Back
- Do marketers have the right to flood the e-mail boxes of unsuspecting Internet users with unwanted e-mail, otherwise known as spam? One Washington state judge has effectively said yes -- and has sparked an instant debate about the constitutionality of law
- http://www.ecommercetimes.com/perl/story/2759.html

Report: E-Mail Taking Hold as E-Commerce Tool
- A survey released this week by Forrester Research, Inc. reports that e-tailers are now using electronic mail as a major means of generating repeat business from customers. [E-Commerce Times]
- http://www.ecommercetimes.com/perl/story/2693.html

Major ISPs Boot Spammers
- As a result of intense pressure from anti-spam activists, major ISPs are taking steps to ensure their salespeople do not sign contracts with companies that send unsolicited commercial e-mail. [E-Commerce Times]
- http://www.ecommercetimes.com/perl/story/4807.html

MSN Criticized For Open Spam Relays
- Responding to complaints that the Microsoft Network is allowing spammers to relay junk e-mail through MSN servers, the Mail Abuse Prevention System (MAPS) has added several MSN systems to its notorious anti-spam blacklist. The action could potentially dis
- http://www.internetnews.com/dev-news/article.php/10_512791

Verio's Alleged Spam is Temporarily Canned
- In a case where a U.S. District Court is upholding a registrar's right to protect people listed in its database, register.com Inc. won a preliminary injunction against Verio Inc. preventing the Web hosting company from mercilessly spamming its customers.
- http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/3_531911

Junk e-mail eradicated?
- Online marketing - sometimes called spamming - is trying to clean up its act - so don't mention the S word. [BBC News]
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/1057487.stm

CNET.com: AT&T admits spam offense after contract exposed
- AT&T acknowledged Thursday that it had violated its own spam policy by providing Web-hosting services to a purported sender of unsolicited commercial email.
- http://news.com.com/2100-1023-248067.html

eBay To Get $1.2M in Spam Settlement
- eBay, Inc. said it will get $1.2 million (US$) under a lawsuit settlement with ReverseAuction.com, Inc., which had been accused of illegally obtaining eBay user IDs and addresses in order to send them unwanted and misleading e-mail. [E-Commerce Times]
- http://www.ecommercetimes.com/perl/story/3895.html

In Defense of Spam
- No one will admit to liking spam -- the canned pseudo-meat or the unsolicited e-mail that bears its name. But despite the current efforts of governments in North America and Europe to get it back into the can, spam is destined to be, and should be, a fact
- http://www.ecommercetimes.com/perl/story/3843.html

House approves anti-spam legislation
- The House of Representatives today passed the first bill that will hold email marketers accountable for the influx of bulk unsolicited email, commonly known as "spam." [CNET.com]
- http://news.com.com/2100-1023-243310.html?legacy=cnet

Study finds filters catch only a fraction of spam
- Spam filters used by some popular Internet email providers weed out only a fraction of the junk they're supposed to but almost never bounce legitimate messages, according to a new study. [CNET.com]
- http://news.com.com/2100-1023-241997.html?legacy=cnet&tag=st.ne.1002.tgif.ni

IKEA enlists friends for email publicity
- Home furnishing retailer IKEA has a new spin on spam, recruiting friends of friends to get the word out about its new store opening in the San Francisco Bay area. [CNET.com]
- http://news.com.com/2100-1017-237759.html?legacy=cnet&tag=st.ne.1002.bgif.1007-200-1567728

ISPs find spam verdict hard to swallow
- Internet service providers and permission-based marketing agencies are up in arms about the government's decision not to regulate against unsolicited commercial email or spam, as it's more commonly known. [Media Guardian] [Requires free registration.]
- http://www.mediaguardian.co.uk/newmedia/story/0,7496,370766,00.html

Brightmail Debuts Wireless Anti-Spam 'Mailwall'
- Seeking to protect wireless e-mail users from spam and viruses, Brightmail, Inc. announced the release of new software that acts as a "mailwall." [Wireless Newsfactor]
- http://wireless.newsfactor.com/perl/story/5674.html

Mega-ISPs And Spam Support
- Discussion about pink contracts. [Slashdot]
- http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=00/11/07/1236219&mode=thread

A Fight to Ban Cellphone Spam
- Hundreds of unsuspecting AT&T wireless subscribers in April protested when spam trickled from their PCs to cellular phones. [Wired]
- http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,37376,00.html

Oh Yum: There's More Spam
- An analysis of data from an e-mail filtering firm shows that more inboxes are being targeted with more junk than ever before. [Wired]
- http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,39832,00.html

Harris Interactive Files Suit Against AOL, Microsoft, Qwest and Other ISPs Over Restraint of Trade
- Mainly an attack on MAPS, claiming that Harris are not spammers and should not be blocked.
- http://www.harrisinteractive.com/news/index.asp?NewsID=127&HI_election=HarrisInteractive

Mail Abuse Prevention Organization Stands Up to Giant Harris Interactive
- MAPS, the anti-spam organization, will vigorously defend the law suit filed by Harris Interactive Inc. [PR Newswire]
- http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/08-02-2000/0001282019

Spam Wars Escalate in Round Two
- Attorney Pete Wellborn obtains Global Restraining Order against spammer Benchmark Print Supply, and seeks contempt sanctions. If successful this case will close down one of the most prolific US spammers. [PR Newswire]
- http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/09-27-2000/0001324147&EDATE=

Spam Warfare
- Blacklists, lawsuits, hate sites. Bulk e-mail is never a dull business. [Forbes]
- http://www.forbes.com/forbes/00/0918/6608230a.htm

Setting Limits for 'Whois' Data
- A dispute between a domain name registrar and a Web hosting company could set legal limits on accessing and using personal information on Internet whois databases. [Wired]
- http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,38025,00.html

Registrar Sues for Whois Spam
- A domain name registrar has filed suit against a firm it claims illegally used its customer contact information in an aggressive marketing campaign of unsolicited email and phone calls. [Wired]
- http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,38014,00.html

Spammer Pays Up at EBay
- ReverseAuction has agreed to pay $1.2 million and to quit harvesting emails from eBay's site as part of a settlement agreement. [Wired]
- http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,37852,00.html

The Congressman Who Loves Spam
- H.R. 3113, which would fine spammers $500 for each piece of unsolicited junk email they send, would have passed unanimously were it not for the representative known throughout the House as "Dr. No." [Wired]
- http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,37665,00.html

When You Send Spam to Yourself
- Carl Toups usually doesn't blink at unsolicited junk mail in his Hotmail account, but a piece of spam recently caught his eye. [Wired]
- http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,37297,00.html

Hotmailers Getting Fat on Spam
- Ask Hotmail users about their email accounts and most likely they will gripe how impossible it is to eliminate spam. [Wired]
- http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,37044,00.html

Other Ways to Fry Spam
- The Chickenboners and the Lumber Cartel are waging a war over your email box. [Wired]
- http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,35776,00.html

Spammers Forced to Tell the Truth
- A Colorado legislative committee has passed a bill that would require spammers to tag unsolicited email with a special subject line. [Wired]
- http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,34458,00.html

Viral marketing goes one step too far
- Article about the "viral marketing" technique used by AllAdvantage.com. [InfoWorld]
- http://www.infoworld.com/articles/op/xml/00/02/07/000207opfoster.xml