CyberLaw Blog

Archive for the ‘SPAM’ Category

Largest spam gang fined $15m by US court$: A US district court has ordered the largest known ’spam gang’ to pay $15.5 million ($£9.4 million) for sending e-mails estimated to have accounted for as much as one third of the world’s junk mail.

(Via Tech and Web from Times Online.)

EU – More action needed to fight spammers and protect online privacy, says Commission: (RAPID)
The European Commission has repeated its call for EU countries to do more to tackle online privacy threats to the public. A Commission-funded study found that although in recent years several EU countries have taken some measures to enforce Europe’s ban on spam, including fines for spammers, the number of prosecuted cases and sanctions imposed on lawbreakers vary considerably. The study confirms the need for the legislative improvements proposed under the reform of the EU’s Telecoms rules: clearer and more consistent enforcement rules and dissuasive sanctions, better cross-border cooperation, and adequate resources for national authorities in charge of protecting citizens’ online privacy.

(Via QuickLinks Update.)

UK should do more on spam and spyware, says EU report: “The UK is not doing enough to deter spammers and combat the use of malicious computer code to damage users’ computers, according to a study commissioned by the European Commission.”

(Via OUT-LAW News.)

Under-caution spam faxer fined over £6,000: “

Debt firm fax up

A man who sent hundreds of spam faxes while under caution from privacy regulator the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) faces more than £6,000 in fines for his actions.…

“

(Via The Register – Public Sector.)

Landmark Spamming, Obscenity Appeals Case Heats Up: “Appellants representing the first convictions in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for online obscenity not involving child pornography and the first convictions ever under the federal CAN-SPAM Act filed their joint reply brief Tuesday.”

(Via XBIZ.com | News & Articles.)

Government sites hit by hackers – Times Online

February 11, 2009

Times investigation reveals links to illegal content are being hidden in official websites
Murad Ahmed, Technology Reporter

Thousands of government, NHS, school and police websites have been doctored to include links to pornography, viruses and other inappropriate material.

An investigation by The Times and Trend Micro, the internet security specialists, has revealed that a large number of taxpayer-funded official websites has been hit by a practice known as ‘link spamming’.

This is when a hacker, or a member of the public, adds links to an official website, which then point visitors to other, inappropriate, material.

It means that an unsuspecting parent might click on an innocent-looking link on their child’s school site and be taken to a pornographic internet site instead, or a patient might click on an NHS website link only to download a harmful computer virus without their knowledge. Many government-created websites are potentially unsafe.

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Facebook wins record $873m fine against spammer: “Facebook has won a $873m judgment against a Canadian sued for spamming users of the social networking site with ’sexually explicit’ messages after hacking into the profiles of its members.”

(Via OUT-LAW News.)

Ofcom fines Barclaycard over silent calls: “Ofcom has fined Britain’s biggest credit card company Barclaycard £50,000 over silent phone calls made on behalf of the company. The telecoms regulator called Barclaycard’s behaviour ‘the most serious’ silent calls case it had ever investigated.”

(Via OUT-LAW News.)

Silent calls fine for Barclaycard: “Barclaycard has received the maximum possible fine for the ‘most serious’ case of silent calls ever seen by the regulator.”

(Via BBC News.)

Liberal Democrats broke privacy laws with 250,000 calls: “The Liberal Democrats broke anti-spam laws by placing 250,000 automated telephone calls last week without prior consent, according to the UK’s privacy chief. If the party continues placing such calls, it has been warned that it could face prosecution.”

(Via OUT-LAW News.)