Microsoft Wins $4 Million in Spam Case
| Title: | Microsoft Wins $4 Million in Spam Case (ID: CSD3271) | | Author(s): | Janis Mara | | Topics: | CAN-SPAM Act of 2003, Spam | | Origin: | Community Contributions (2004) | | Type: | Articles, Papers, and Reports | | Abstract: | A U.S. District Judge issued a $4 million summary judgment in favor of Microsoft in its case against Daniel Khoshnood and his companies for crimes including sending deceptive spam and infringing trademarks. Khoshnood is accused of sending mass e-mail that appeared to come from Microsoft, including the company's trademarked logos, with false messages about bogus security patches that directed recipients to windowsupdatenow.com, which is registered to Khoshnood.
He is also accused of registering domains such as "hottmail.com" and sending mail from that domain in an effort to deceive consumers. Anne Mitchell, president and CEO of the Institute for Spam and Public Policy, applauded the ruling, saying that a summary judgment indicates the judge believes the case to be sufficiently one-sided as to make a trial unnecessary. Mitchell also said Microsoft can seek to collect the
$4 million by seizing Khoshnood's property. Ray Everett-Church, chief privacy officer with Privacy Group LLC, was similarly pleased with the ruling but said that a decrease in the overall spam problem would require "massive enforcement." The new ruling, he said, "barely scratches the surface." | | View this resource: | |
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