14 June 2005
Stemming Spam
Efforts to curtail spam have been pressing forward, with some positive results. The CAN-SPAM Act, which went into effect on January 1, 2004, directed the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to adopt tools to combat unsolicited commercial e-mails, commonly known as spam. Those rules continue to evolve, despite resistance from marketers who employ spam to spread the word about products that range from legitimate consumer goods to black market drugs, pornography, and worthless investments.
Still, there seems to be no stemming the flow of spam email that profile of obscure, penniless public companies. Read those reports and you might believe that every one of these struggling companies is poised to become the next Microsoft or Intel. That optimism is generally paid for by promoters who are looking to create interest in a company, help spike the stock price, and then dump their own shares. There is virtually no chance that any of these companies will rival Microsoft, Intel, or any other successful technology company. Most of them are lucky if they can afford to buy a computer, much less market one.
The anti-spam initiative moved forward this month when federal enforcement agents arrested two Detroit, Michigan-based men and charged them with sending millions of e-mail advertisements for a bogus weight loss patch. Two other men are still being sought in the case. The arrests mark the first use of the new spam busting regulations.
The four men, Daniel Lin, Mark Sadek, James Lin and Christopher Chung, could face five year prison terms under the CAN-SPAM law, as well as mail fraud charges that carry a maximum 20 year sentence.
Authorities claim that the defendants earned almost $100,000 a month selling the phony diet patch through a company called Phoenix Avatar. To cover their tracks, the men used other people's e-mail addresses, a technique known as spoofing. Spoofing is illegal under the new anti-spam rules.
In a separate case targeting spammers, the FTC said it is seeking to close Global Web Promotions Pty Ltd., an Australian-based spam operation that sends a massive number of spam to the U.S. Global Web, like Phoenix Avatar, has been promoting a useless diet patch, as well as other anti-aging products that experts say do not work.
These spammers, who are selling useless weight-loss products, have a good deal in common with spamming promoters who peddle worthless stocks. Both are using e-mail to gain immediate, low cost access to millions of potential customers, and both employ manipulative and misleading techniques to profit at the expense of innocent consumers.
Now, hopefully, the FTC will aim CAN-SPAM at the stock promoters as well, and curtail the seemingly endless stream of promotional nonsense that litters the e-mail.
Still, there seems to be no stemming the flow of spam email that profile of obscure, penniless public companies. Read those reports and you might believe that every one of these struggling companies is poised to become the next Microsoft or Intel. That optimism is generally paid for by promoters who are looking to create interest in a company, help spike the stock price, and then dump their own shares. There is virtually no chance that any of these companies will rival Microsoft, Intel, or any other successful technology company. Most of them are lucky if they can afford to buy a computer, much less market one.
The anti-spam initiative moved forward this month when federal enforcement agents arrested two Detroit, Michigan-based men and charged them with sending millions of e-mail advertisements for a bogus weight loss patch. Two other men are still being sought in the case. The arrests mark the first use of the new spam busting regulations.
The four men, Daniel Lin, Mark Sadek, James Lin and Christopher Chung, could face five year prison terms under the CAN-SPAM law, as well as mail fraud charges that carry a maximum 20 year sentence.
Authorities claim that the defendants earned almost $100,000 a month selling the phony diet patch through a company called Phoenix Avatar. To cover their tracks, the men used other people's e-mail addresses, a technique known as spoofing. Spoofing is illegal under the new anti-spam rules.
In a separate case targeting spammers, the FTC said it is seeking to close Global Web Promotions Pty Ltd., an Australian-based spam operation that sends a massive number of spam to the U.S. Global Web, like Phoenix Avatar, has been promoting a useless diet patch, as well as other anti-aging products that experts say do not work.
These spammers, who are selling useless weight-loss products, have a good deal in common with spamming promoters who peddle worthless stocks. Both are using e-mail to gain immediate, low cost access to millions of potential customers, and both employ manipulative and misleading techniques to profit at the expense of innocent consumers.
Now, hopefully, the FTC will aim CAN-SPAM at the stock promoters as well, and curtail the seemingly endless stream of promotional nonsense that litters the e-mail.
# posted by vdodon @ 05:13 
