"Alabama Spammers" sued by ISP

US internet service provider EarthLink is suing the "Alabama Spammers", an unidentified group it alleges used its service to send massive amounts of junk email.

Earthlink is seeking an injunction and damages against defendants who "engaged in a massive scheme of theft, spamming and spoofing," with the use of stolen credit cards and unauthorised use of internet access accounts, according to the complaint filed in Atlanta.

The company said the name "Alabama Spammers" refers to the group's frequent use of phone lines in Birmingham, Alabama to illegally connect to EarthLink POP (Post Office Protocol) accounts in that area. EarthLink said as many as 100 individuals could be involved in the spamming ring in Alabama and British Columbia, which has sent as many as 250 million email messages on its network.

Earthlink plans to continue investigating the identity of the spammers, but so far the clues only "suggest that this is a very sophisticated ring of spammers", EarthLink spokeswoman Carla Shaw said. The suit gives the company the ability to issue subpoenas to domain name registrars, mailbox companies and other third parties to help finger the culprits.

The company is seeking damages of no less than $15m - three times that of its own loss - and punitive damages, according to the complaint.

The suit is EarthLink's latest attempt to alleviate spam and is one of about 80 pending actions against junk emailers. One of the most oppressive aspects of connecting to the internet is spam, which wreaks havoc on computer users and on internet companies. As a result, all of the major internet companies are stepping up litigation against rogue marketers. Just this week Amazon.com filed lawsuits against 11 email marketers that allegedly used its name falsely in email headers, a practice called spoofing.

Some lawsuits are paying off. In May, EarthLink won $16.4m in a federal court judgment and an injunction against email marketer the "Buffalo Spammer". The Buffalo, NY, resident was charged with identity theft and forgery in sending more than 825 million email messages through EarthLink. The judgment ranked among the three largest spamming wins by EarthLink to date.

Aside from litigation, EarthLink is collaborating with other major internet companies, such as Microsoft, AOL and Yahoo!, to find a technology solution for spam - an initiative announced in April. The companies are meeting this week at Microsoft's headquarters to talk to technology businesses in the industry, including email filtering partner Brightmail and the ePrivacy Group, according to those attending. They have yet to announce any progress on the project.

EarthLink's John Doe suit claims the "Alabama Spammers" used stolen or bogus credit card information to buy hundreds of dial-up internet accounts and then used those memberships to send unwanted email to consumers. In addition, the group allegedly took advantage of automated dialling and logon devices to attempt to make thousands of connections to EarthLink accounts per hour to send email without a trace, among other charges.

Stefanie Olsen writes for CNET News.com