Top ISPs file lawsuits under new CAN-SPAM law

Four of the world's largest email and Internet service providers have filed lawsuits in the US against the worst alleged offenders behind unsolicited junk emails, or spam.

America Online, Microsoft, Yahoo! And EarthLink filed suits in the first major action under a new American anti-spam law.

The lawsuits claim the defendants hid their identities and used deceptive tactics to send out hundreds of millions of pitches for get-rich-quick schemes, pornography and other types of spam.

Spam accounts for roughly half of all email traffic and the figure is accelerating.

The cases will be watched closely by lawyers and the industry, marking the first real test of the new law, brought in on a tide of popular feeling against the deluge of spam.

All four companies have previously attempted to use state laws to sue "spammers", but the new federal law sets national standards that could make the fight easier and more effective.

The law, entitled Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing, is better known by the acronym CAN-SPAM, increased the size of financial penalties available and raises the possibility of spammers being put out of business.

The lawsuits claim that one group of defendants in Canada sent nearly 100 million messages to Yahoo! Customers in January alone, reselling the addresses of anyone who responded.

Some of the offenders may be difficult to find as two hundred of the cases have been filed against "John Doe" - meaning that their identities have not yet been established.