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'Spam' slamming goes to court

Internet spam September 26, 1997
Web posted at: 10:59 p.m. EDT (0259 GMT)

DEARBORN, Michigan (CNN) -- One of the world's largest Internet service providers is squaring off against one of its largest purveyors of junk e-mail, known unaffectionately by netizens as "spam."

Apex Global Internet Services, or AGIS, the third largest Internet service provider in the world, has dropped so-called "spammers" from its service, including the biggest spammer of them all, Cyber Promotions, owned by Sanford Wallace.

Now, Cyber Promotions and Wallace are fighting back, having filed a lawsuit against AGIS alleging breach of contract.

"I'm very proud of what I do, and I don't really think that spamming is bad or good," said Wallace. "I think it's just a way of doing business."

Spam is the electronic equivalent of junk mail, unsolicited messages hawking all sorts of products and services.

http://www.agis.net/

AGIS officials say they were forced to take action because they were caught in the middle of the ongoing Internet tug-of-war between spammers and angry recipients who had launched high-tech counterattacks against spam.

"We asked the anti-spammers to give us a chance, and we asked the spammers to stop sending unsolicited e-mail to people who said they didn't want it," said Phillip Lawlor, chief executive officer of AGIS. "The problem was that really didn't make anybody happy."

"Both sides then resorted to unethical and illegal practices in order to take down the other side's networks."

There is some precedent for AGIS's actions against junk e-mail. Earlier this year, America Online successfully sued to stop Cyber Promotions from sending unsolicited e-mail to its subscribers.

However, AOL is a private network, not an Internet service provider. The suit between Wallace and AGIS, then, could help determine how far such providers can go in trying to can spam from the entire Internet.

A federal judge is expected to rule on the suit against AGIS on Monday.

CNN's Ed Garsten contributed to this report.

 
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