Redmond (WA) - Microsoft has filed a lawsuit against three unnamed spammers who used the company's Hotmail service to send out unsolicited bulk e-mails as part of a stock fraud scheme.

Three John Does are named in the suit, who allegedly sent spam e-mail messages to millions of people, including Hotmail users, making up a story about certain stock prices headed on the way up.  It's a tactic known as "pump and dump".  Individuals buy volume quantities of cheap stocks and then try to artificially inflate their prices.  According to PC World, it's the fastest growing kind of spam.

While Microsoft has no legal obligation to prevent spammers from using its Hotmail service, the software giant hopes to set an example to bulk e-mailers.  It also wants to show its customers that it wants Hotmail to be as clean as possible with regard to spam.

Microsoft filed a similar lawsuit in 2003, which ended in an unclear result.  It then took legal action again in 2004 on the heels of the CAN-SPAM act.  That suit did little to deter the thousands of spammers that still exist, though.

Microsoft wants the three defendants, whose identities have not yet been determined, to pay damages and agree to prevent from sending spam to Hotmail users in the future.

hell ya!!!!!

May 29, 2007 13:49     

sick'em microsoft!!!!
big G report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

others follow?

May 29, 2007 15:15     

will others like google and yahoo follow this wonderful trend? teach spammers its not worth it is the only way to stop them.
dean report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

where does this money go?

May 29, 2007 17:03     

yeah noone likes spam mails... but where is all this money that they might win go? ill bet it goes into the pockets of the company... like they need more money.
mike report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

For everyone one bad things MS does...

May 29, 2007 17:09     

... there seems to be something good coming through the pipe, such as this. While I am no big MS fan, its great to see e-mail providers taking action against these people for driving up their own costs with this SPAM.
Andrew report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

When everybody routinely deletes spam unopened, spa...

May 29, 2007 19:57     

When everybody routinely deletes spam unopened, spammers will go out of business. As long as fools respond to spam we will be stuck with it.
Jerry report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

CanSpam...

May 30, 2007 02:11     

US has no one to blame for spam other than the ineptitude of its own lawmakers... The so-called canspam act was a great effort to legalize spam, and makes the US one of the top spamming countries in the world.
michael report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

IF ONLY THIS MEANT...

May 30, 2007 04:05     

Hotmail could be free! But it's unlikely. Frickin' banner ads are EVERYWHERE now. Grr.
JohnDoe report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

well, i dont know about that..

May 30, 2007 04:19     

i used to love hotmail, but anymore. Spams are coming like crazy everyday to my hotmail mailbox. well, yeah yeah yeah, i know i used the email for some forums id and e'thing, but hey, my own server with spamassassin works better than hotmail's spamfilter.. lol..
Mohd Yusuf report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Reply to "Mike"

May 30, 2007 08:22     

Do you think it's cheap to sue someone? The attorneys hired are not working pro-bono and most likely are not working in a conditional fee agreement either. MS will only receive money if they win, and if you read into other cases like this you will find that the money is not usually a lot, and that money is recycled into further actions. If they win this, you'll be sure to see more suits like this one to stop spammers in Hotmail.

TR report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

I really hope...

May 30, 2007 14:45     

I really hope Microsoft wins this lawsuit because spammers are a nuisance in the net world. Granted it won't deter other spammers sending spam to other networks but at least when companies and individuals get fed up and sue maybe they might take notice. Darkk
Darkk report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Hotmail Spam

May 31, 2007 00:42     

Hotmail has one the best Anti-Spam filters. I use my HM address for every website that requires an email addy, and i get 1 maybe 2 spams a day, sometimes none at all. As for my Yahoo account, well, lets just say i dont bother logging in any more cos of all the Cr*p emails i receive without giving out that address...
Rayza report abuse vote down vote up Votes: -1

I am against capital punishment...

Jun 06, 2007 11:45     

But the spammers are testing my integrity!
Emrah report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0