Government Technology
Government Technology: State & Local Government News Articles

FTC Halts Illegal Spam Operation



Print
Comment

May 7, 2008, News Report

The Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice have halted the illegal conduct of an adult Web site that sent spam with false or misleading header information, that failed to include an opt-out mechanism, and that failed to include a valid postal address, all in violation of federal law. A final court order will bar violations of the CAN-SPAM Act in the future, require the defendants to establish an effective monitoring program for their affiliates, and impose a $75,000 civil penalty.

According to the FTC, since at least January 2006 the defendants have used affiliates who sent spam intended to drive users to the defendants' adult Web sites, including sexyfriendsearch.com, an Internet dating service where they collect payment for memberships. The affiliates, who are paid commissions for referrals who sign up as members, send spam with lurid subject lines that contains hyperlinks to the defendants' Web sites.

The settlement bars future violations of the CAN-SPAM Act and requires the defendants to establish a monitoring program to assure that their affiliates comply with the law. Based on the defendants' inability to pay, a judgment of $442,900 -- the amount the defendants made from the illegal spam -- will be suspended upon payment of a $75,000 civil penalty. Should the court find that the defendants misrepresented their financial status, the entire amount will be due. Finally, the settlement contains record keeping requirements to allow the FTC to monitor compliance.

The defendants named in the case are ATM Global Systems, Inc. and it principals, Mark Richman and Nathaniel Seidman.

 


If You Liked This Article, You May Also Like...

Related Products and Services


Latest Government Technology News


Industry Solutions for Government

Read real world deployments of technology in government from our sponsors.

View All Industry Solutions

Marketplace


This section
brought to you by:
Ca - Transforming IT Management

Identity and Access Management Survey
Take the survey to:
  • Win 1 of 10 $25 Amazon Gift Cards!
  • Download the Center for Digital Government's: I Am Who I Say I Am whitepaper
Take the Survey Now!

SF Health Plan

  Yes! I would like more information about CA's solutions for Government.

Security Management

The Evolution of Identity and Access Management IAM has become a key tool in the organization’s security and risk management efforts. Many Govt. organizations however, are not realizing the potential of a fully evolved IAM solution. This paper helps them achieve that goal.

How can a comprehensive IAM solution help me reduce security risk and achieve easier compliance? Identity and Access Management (IAM) solutions help you manage users and their access to your IT resources while acheving more effective compliance.

IT Governance

IT Governance: Making the Difference in Cities, Counties and States Project and portfolio management helps government respond to old and new challenges. Featuring case studies from California Department of Agriculture, New York City, and Oakland County, Michigan.

CA Information Governance Solution Brief The CA Information Governance solution helps you solve an array of challenges with unique offerings including federated records management, email management, retention management and business process automation.

Enterprise Management

IT Network Management: State and Local Governments Face New Challenges Network and voice management tools help agancies get optimum performance from today's increasingly complex networks.

Success Stories: San Francisco Health Plan San Francisco Health Plan helps more people access affordable healthcare by simplifying IT management

Success Stories: Social Services Agency, County of Santa Clara County of Santa Clara improves the quality of social services with simplified IT management

CA Network & Voice Management Solution Brief Integrated, fault and performance management for end-to-end service assurance of multi-vendor, multi-technology converged networks.

Risk Compliance and Best Practices

Key Trends in the IAM Market and how CA's R12 Suite Addresses these Trends Identity and Access Management (IAM) has been a major force in the enterprise IT marketplace for years now.This paper will address the question: What's driving interest in IAM solutions?

Network and VoiceManagement for Evolving Business IT management specialist CA provides a foundation for delivering the value of unified network and voice management

A Vision for Dynamic Business Service Management By applying new levels of consolidation, automation and insight, dynamic Business Svc Mgt delivers improved service levels and cost controls

Deploying the CMDB for Change & Configuration Management The Configuration Management Database (CMDB) plays a critical role within the ITIL framework.

The Changing Face of Network Management Automated NCCM tools reduce the downtime and degradation caused by configuration changes.