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TOP STORIES FOR FRIDAY, APRIL 01, 2005 Spammer Files for Bankruptcy Protection ChoicePoint Opens Its Books to Consumers Lawsuits Target Phishers SPAMMER FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY PROTECTION Scott Richter, proprietor of one of the world's best known spamming operations, said the company has been forced to file for bankruptcy protection. OptInRealBig.com has been the target of several lawsuits for violating antispam laws, including one lawsuit filed by Microsoft, which is seeking $46 million in damages. Spamhaus, an organization that monitors junk e-mail globally, ranks OptInRealBig.com third on its list of spam operations around the globe. The company is alleged to have sent billions of e-mail messages that appeared to come from hijacked return addresses, including those of the Kuwait Ministries of Communication and Finance, the Seoul Municipal Boramae Hospital, and the Virginia Community College System. In its announcement, OptInRealBig.com said that the ongoing lawsuits and possible damages have made it impossible for the company to "still run a viable business." An attorney for OptInRealBig.com said the company expects ultimately to prevail. BBC, 1 April 2005 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4400335.stm CHOICEPOINT OPENS ITS BOOKS TO CONSUMERS Officials of ChoicePoint, the data aggregation company recently in the news for compromising the personal information of about 150,000 individuals, said it is developing an application that will allow consumers to view any information about them that the company collects and sells. According to Don McGuffey, vice president for data acquisition at ChoicePoint, "You will receive the reports that we have on you." The company has also changed the records that it sells to law enforcement agencies, employers, landlords, and other businesses. Those records will no longer include complete driver's license or Social Security numbers--a change implemented in response to legislation introduced by California State Sen. Jackie Speier that would impose new limitations on what Speier described as an industry "that has grown up overnight with no regulations whatsoever." Wall Street Journal, 31 March 2005 (sub. req'd) http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB111227798677294247,00.html LAWSUITS TARGET PHISHERS Microsoft has filed 117 "John Doe" lawsuits against operators of Web sites involved in phishing scams. Phishers send e-mail messages that purport to be from a bank or other financial services institution. The e-mails tell recipients that they must visit a Web site and disclose personal information, typically under the pretense of updating account records or something similar. Disclosed information is then used for credit card fraud and other types of identity theft. Microsoft said it was filing the lawsuits in an effort to discover who is behind the largest phishing operations and put them out of business. Microsoft's Aaron Kornblum said, "We must work together to stop these con artists from misusing the Internet as a tool for fraud." Reuters, 31 March 2005 http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?storyID=8051350 ***************************************************** EDUPAGE INFORMATION To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your settings, or access the Edupage archive, visit http://www.educause.edu/Edupage/639 Or, you can subscribe or unsubscribe by sending e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To SUBSCRIBE, in the body of the message type: SUBSCRIBE Edupage YourFirstName YourLastName To UNSUBSCRIBE, in the body of the message type: SIGNOFF Edupage If you have subscription problems, send e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] ***************************************************** OTHER EDUCAUSE RESOURCES The EDUCAUSE Resource Center is a repository for information concerning use and management of IT in higher education. To access resources including articles, books, conference sessions, contracts, effective practices, plans, policies, position descriptions, and blog content, go to http://www.educause.edu/resources ***************************************************** CONFERENCES For information on all EDUCAUSE learning and networking opportunities, see http://www.educause.edu/31 ***************************************************** COPYRIGHT Edupage copyright (c) 2005, EDUCAUSE
