Microsoft going after Hotmail spammers

ToshiroOC · Feb 19, 2003, 08:55 AM

Microsoft is turning up the heat on spam, filing a lawsuit to go after people it suspects of having harvested e-mail addresses from its Hotmail servers to spam subscribers.

Microsoft on Thursday filed a so-called John Doe suit in the federal court for the northern district of California in San Jose. The suit doesn't name defendants, but allows the plaintiff the power to issue subpoenas as part of the investigative phase of the trial.

The defendants are accused of using a "dictionary attack" to discover active Hotmail accounts. A dictionary attack is one in which a computer program goes through every entry in a dictionary in an attempt to guess passwords. In this case, the program guessed millions of random e-mail addresses to see which ones were active, Microsoft alleged.

Microsoft filed the suit the same week it called on legislators to pass laws forbidding the practice of spam-address harvesting.

"We are intensifying our efforts to cooperate with other ISPs in fighting spam, and working with (the) government to enforce current laws against it," Microsoft wrote in an essay dated Wednesday. "But new, strong laws are needed. At a minimum, senders should not be allowed to misrepresent their identity, falsify the subject of a message, or use automated means to gather e-mail addresses without the owners' consent."

In the absence of such a law, Microsoft relied on existing federal statutes including the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. The company also made trade secrets and trespassing claims.

Internet service providers and individuals alike have increasingly turned to the law to fight unsolicited commercial e-mail.

--By Paul Festa, source: news.com (CNET)

Article can be read here.

Feb 19, 2003, 08:55 AM	#1
ToshiroOC Unbiased. Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 4,812 Rep Power: 0	Microsoft going after Hotmail spammers Microsoft is turning up the heat on spam, filing a lawsuit to go after people it suspects of having harvested e-mail addresses from its Hotmail servers to spam subscribers. Microsoft on Thursday filed a so-called John Doe suit in the federal court for the northern district of California in San Jose. The suit doesn't name defendants, but allows the plaintiff the power to issue subpoenas as part of the investigative phase of the trial. The defendants are accused of using a "dictionary attack" to discover active Hotmail accounts. A dictionary attack is one in which a computer program goes through every entry in a dictionary in an attempt to guess passwords. In this case, the program guessed millions of random e-mail addresses to see which ones were active, Microsoft alleged. Microsoft filed the suit the same week it called on legislators to pass laws forbidding the practice of spam-address harvesting. "We are intensifying our efforts to cooperate with other ISPs in fighting spam, and working with (the) government to enforce current laws against it," Microsoft wrote in an essay dated Wednesday. "But new, strong laws are needed. At a minimum, senders should not be allowed to misrepresent their identity, falsify the subject of a message, or use automated means to gather e-mail addresses without the owners' consent." In the absence of such a law, Microsoft relied on existing federal statutes including the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. The company also made trade secrets and trespassing claims. Internet service providers and individuals alike have increasingly turned to the law to fight unsolicited commercial e-mail. --By Paul Festa, source: news.com (CNET) Article can be read here.