Microsoft sues spamming ring

In conjunction with New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's office, the software giant filed several lawsuits against a New York-based spamming ring allegedly responsible for sending billions of illegal and deceptive e-mail messages.
"We appreciate the attorney general's leadership on what is arguably the biggest technology menace consumers are facing," Brad Smith, Microsoft general counsel, said in a statement. "Together, we are stepping up efforts to help consumers take control of their in-boxes again."
Synergy6, an e-mail marketing company based in New York, and Scott Richter, president of OptInRealBig.com, are among the defendants named in the six suits. Richter has been named one of the world's largest spammers by ROKSO, the Register of Known Spam Operations, which is listed on Spamhaus, an antispam and consumer advocacy organization.
Authorities allege that Richter and accomplices in Washington, Texas and New York are responsible for seven illegal spam campaigns, each in violation of consumer protection statutes in New York and Washington.
They claim that these campaigns used common spam techniques such as forged sender names, false subject lines, fake server names, inaccurate and misrepresented sender addresses or obscured transmission paths.
Microsoft has filed an additional five lawsuits against other spammers who allegedly used the same transmission path in New York that originally led investigators to Richter and the spam network.

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