AOL, MSN seize spam assets

AOL, MSN seize spam assets

By Jon Swartz, USA TODAY

America Online and Microsoft are hitting spammers where it hurts most: They are confiscating their assets and giving them away.


AOL, the world's largest Internet service provider, is awarding $20,000 in gold bars, a 2003 Hummer H2 and $75,000 in cash it seized from a major spammer as part of a legal settlement last year. It will hold a sweepstakes on its Web site starting Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Microsoft on Tuesday said Scott Richter, once considered one of the world's top spammers, and his company, OptInRealBig.com, agreed to pay $7 million under a legal settlement. Microsoft is donating $1 million to a New York program to provide computer gear to community centers. It will spend $5 million more on anti-spam efforts.

"We think it's justice," says Curtis Lu, AOL deputy general counsel. "We're taking the ill-gotten bounty these spammers have earned off the backs of our customers and handing it back to customers."

The unusual actions illustrate how far AOL and Microsoft are willing to go to discourage spammers, who for years have hounded popular Internet services with unwanted commercial e-mail, and to appease harried users. The largest spammers charge clients up to $50,000 a month to e-mail ads.

It is the second time AOL has given away assets accumulated by spammers. Last year, AOL awarded a $45,000 Porsche Boxster.

This year's drawing signifies the effectiveness of the federal Can-Spam Act, Lu says. AOL collected the gold, truck and cash after suing a spammer under the stricter law last year. The lawsuit was one of a dozen AOL filed since the law went into effect Jan. 1, 2004. It "has struck fear into spammers," Lu says.

The flurry of recent lawsuits has made an appreciable dent in the spam pouring into AOL's and Microsoft's online services, the companies say. Spam is down 85% at AOL, based on member complaints.

Still, spam remains a thorny issue for U.S. consumers and businesses despite high-profile legislation and lawsuits. About 72% of e-mail is spam, up from 68% a year ago, says IronPort Systems, an e-mail security vendor. It says many spammers are shifting targets, from AOL and MSN to businesses and broadband users with less security and fewer legal resources.

Some spammers are adding viruses to steal personal data, computer-security experts say.

"We shouldn't declare victory, but we are turning the tide," says Brad Smith, Microsoft general counsel.

Steve Richter, Scott's father and attorney, said his son has agreed to comply with the federal anti-spam law, and his company is "making every effort to be a model for the best Internet marketing practices."