-Caveat Lector- <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/"> </A> -Cui Bono?- from: http://www.aci.net/kalliste/ Click Here: <A HREF="http://www.aci.net/kalliste/">The Home Page of J. Orlin Grabbe</A> ----- Digital Society Two Nabbed for Hyping Stock Through Email Spam, bam, thank you, ma'am. US Federal authorities arrested two men on Thursday and charged them with using an elaborate e-mail, or "spam" scheme to manipulate the prices of dozens of thinly-traded stocks. The two men, both 31, are accused of fraudulently touting stocks through unsolicited messages sent directly to many internet users. The messages were designed to simulate legitimate stock recommendations issued through internet service company America Online. The case involved the efforts of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the US Department of Justice. Although it was unclear how many individuals actually received the fraudulent messages, the amount was described as "numerous" and included at least two SEC officials. "This is the dark side of the internet," said Mary Jo White, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. "This kind of scheme, well-known for decades to generations of boiler-room cold-callers, takes on a new dimension because of the ability online to reach thousands, if not millions, of investors with a single keystroke." The illicit spam messages contained stock recommendations on 57 public companies. In many cases the men are charged with selling their own shares of the company into the momentum their false stock tips helped generate. According to documents filed on Thursday, the two men acquired large enough quantities of the recommended stocks to move the stocks higher prior to sending out their spam messages. The messages would then often cite recent momentum in the stock price to coax other investors into buying the stock. During a three month period the two men are said to have made profits of $339,000. The Financial Times, February 25, 2000 Echelon Thatcher Used Global Network to Spy on Ministers She was just checking in case they were criminals, terrorists, or child pornographers. NEW YORK, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher used a global surveillance network to spy on two cabinet ministers in 1983, former Canadian agent Mike Frost was quoted on Thursday as saying. The two unnamed ministers were not suspected of being traitors but Thatcher felt they disagreed with her over certain policy matters, Frost said. He said they were spied on by a Canadian agent. Frost made his allegations to the CBS-TV programme "60 Minutes," according to released excerpts. In London, no comment was immediately available from Thatcher but Prime Minister Tony Blair's office said the government would draw the allegations to her attention. "We will make sure Baroness Thatcher is aware of these allegations so she can judge whether they merit a response," a spokeswoman told Reuters. Frost's allegations came in the same week that a European Parliament report said the Echelon surveillance network, a series of listening posts around the world run by the United States, Canada, Britain, Australia and New Zealand, was used for industrial espionage. The British government denied on Wednesday that it used Echelon for industrial spying in Europe that could help U.S. corporations win contracts ahead of European companies. Echelon was designed to eavesdrop on suspected terrorists, drug lords and other governments hostile to the five members. "(Thatcher) had two ministers that she said, 'they weren't on side,'...so my boss went to London and did intercept traffic from those two ministers," Frost was quoted as saying in the excerpts released by "60 Minutes." His comments are due to be broadcast on Sunday. Frost, who said he worked for Canadian intelligence from 1972 until 1992, alleged the five countries could circumvent domestic laws against spying on citizens by asking another Echelon member to do it for them. "The British Parliament now have total deniability," Frost said, referring to the alleged spying on the two ministers, whom he did not identify. "They didn't do anything... We did it for them." A senior British Foreign Office official said in response to the European Parliament report that "any surveillance that there is in Britain has to be authorised in accordance with the law as does any American activity here." Echelon was capable of intercepting phone conversations, faxes and e-mail messages around the world but sometimes the communications of ordinary, innocent civilians were also monitored, Frost told "60 Minutes." He cited a woman whose name and telephone number went into the network's database as a possible terrorist because she had told a friend on the phone that her son had "bombed" in a school play. "The computer spit that conversation out," Frost was quoted as saying. "The analyst ... was not too sure what the conversation was referring to, so, erring on the side of caution, he listed that lady." Reuters, February 24, 2000 ----- Aloha, He'Ping, Om, Shalom, Salaam. Em Hotep, Peace Be, All My Relations. Omnia Bona Bonis, Adieu, Adios, Aloha. Amen. Roads End <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soap-boxing! 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