The Washington Post reports that ISP giants and rivals Microsoft and AOL are working together to help craft legislation on the federal and state level to fight the uncontrollable tide of spam that plagues their respective subscribers, which total over 140 million. To provide some perspective on the enormity of the problem, AOL alone claims to block about 780 million spam e-mails bound for customers each day.
In related news, a survey by Assurance Systems concluded that “opt-in” e-mail is routinely blocked by major ISPs, with AOL ranking third on the list with an 18% non-delivery rate.
Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery Since 2002
Daily Archives: February 21, 2003
FCC Adopts New Rules for High-Speed Net Access
The FCC published a press release on the new rules for network unbundling of incumbent local phone carriers. See this Washington Post article, Vote on Internet Access Favors Phone Companies, for more details, and from the New York Times, High-Speed Service May Cost More. Continue Reading
Virginia Privacy Bill Limits Disclosure of Personal Data
The Virginia House yesterday passed and adopted HB 2426 – Posting certain information on the Internet; prohibitions, in response to growing public concerns about privacy and ID theft. The bill “provides that beginning July 1, 2003, no state agency or court clerk shall post on a state agency or court-controlled website any document that contains… Continue Reading
Sentencing For Computer Related Crimes
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) and the Sentencing Project jointly requested (PDF) that the U.S. Sentencing Commission not increase sentences for federal computer crimes (18 U.S.C. 1030, Fraud and Related Activity in Connection with Computers). The Commission is seeking comments as it reviews current guidelines as required… Continue Reading
Book Store Protects Customer Sales Records
A book shop is Montpelier Vermont, Bear Pond Books, instituted a policy to purge the records of customer purchases upon their request. This action was taken in response to provisions of the Patriot Act that allow the government to force disclosure of customer buying records as part of their effort to “enhance domestic security against… Continue Reading
Minnesota Privacy Law Under Attack
Minnesota’s pioneering Internet privacy legislation, S.F. No. 2908, that regulates spam, protects the privacy of Internet consumers and regulates the dissemination of personal data about Internet users, is under attack just as it is scheduled to take effect March 1. AOL and other industry groups are seeking to introduce new legislation to “limit the responsibility… Continue Reading
Bertelsmann Sued By Music Publishers Over Copyright Infringement
Global media publisher Bertelemann, an investor in the pioneering music file swapping company Napster, was sued in federal district court in New York by fellow music publishers, for $17 billion. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, details from the 18 page complaint “allege that Bertelsmann contributed to the wide-scale infringement of their… Continue Reading
FTC Issues Cross Border Fraud Report
The FTC released statistics indicating that consumer complaints related to cross-border consumer fraud almost doubled in 2002. See their 2002 Cross-Border Fraud Trends Report (PDF). Information was compiled from complaints received via the government’s cooperative Consumer Sentinel database, a working partnership that receives input from state, federal and international law enforcement agencies and consumer advocacy… Continue Reading
