Date: Fri, 06 Mar 1998 12:03:15 -0500 From: The Classiest Man Alive <ksmm@cybercom.net> To: chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: See, it's not hopeless :-) Message-ID: <199803061722.MAA19094@kalypso.cybercom.net>
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FTC brings fraud charges against mass e-mailer By Matthew Broersma March 5, 1998 ZDNN The Federal Trade Commission has taken the groundbreaking step of suing a junk e-mailer for fraud -- the first law enforcement action over spam, according to the FTC. On Wednesday the FTC filed a complaint with a federal district court to "permanently prohibit the seller of an allegedly bogus business opportunity from making false promises to tout the scheme," according to the announcement. "The rules for advertising by e-mail are the same as the rules for advertising through the regular mail: Don't mislead or lie to consumers, or the FTC will come after you," said Jodie Bernstein, Director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection in a statement. While spamming -- the practice of sending out thousands or millions of unsolicited e-mail messages -- is not illegal, fraud can be prosecuted whether it is conducted over the telephone, the U.S. Postal Service, or the Internet. The FTC announced several months ago it would begin cracking down on fraudulent spam, and now seems to be making good on its promise. In its complaint, the FTC charged that the spam messages and Internet home page of Internet Business Broadcasting Inc. of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., contained false and misleading income claims. The group solicited investments over unsolicited e-mail messages, according to the FTC. Thomas Maher, Dorian Reed and Audrey Reed were also named in the FTC complaint. FTC: Sending a message "The way I see it, the FTC did what they said they would do, go after spam in cases where it's fraudulent," said Scott Hazen Mueller, chairman of the Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail, which promotes anti-spam legislation. The FTC recently sent out messages to spammers warning they could be prosecuted for fraud. Mueller said the FTC action does not change the rules of the game for spammers, but might discourage some "get rich quick" schemes and other types of fraud over the Net. "Fraud has always been illegal," Mueller said. "The main thing is, the FTC is showing that they can take care of it in the Internet arena just like they do everywhere else. If the spam is just annoying, the FTC isn't going to be able to help you out with it." The FTC could not be reached for comment. To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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