The new law, known as the Can-Spam Act, criminalises particular tactics that spammers use to send junk e-mail, such as using deceptive subject lines or routing e-mail through third-party computers. The law, which also provides for civil remedies, gives the lawsuits "added punch", said Randall Boe, general counsel for for Time Warner's America Online unit. AOL was joined in the suit by Microsoft, Earthlink and Yahoo.

Despite dozens of civil lawsuits filed by ISPs in the past few years, the volume of junk commercial e-mail flooding the internet continues to rise, and is estimated to account for as much as 65 per cent of all e-mail.

The problem
Unsolicited commercial e-mail has emerged as a leading source of frustration and concern among ISPs and their customers, with hundreds of millions of junk e-mail messages a day driving up bandwidth costs and clogging internet in-boxes.

Matt Robinson of Yahoo said the ISPs were pursuing injunctions to stop spammers from sending additional e-mails, as well as unspecified damages.

In an unusual show of unity, the four ISPs said they worked together to track down the defendants and ensure their lawsuits did not overlap.

Ron Wyden, a Democrat senator for Oregon, said: "Today's filing proves that the days of spamming with impunity are finally over, and all those who abuse e-mail and threaten its viability as the internet's most popular and useful application should take notice."

Critics of the new law have argued it does nothing to bolster ISPs' ability to sue spammers and it does not provide for additional resources to enforce criminal provisions of the act.

Mr Kramer said ISPs were under a great deal of political pressure to take action under the new law, which specifies that plaintiffs can seek civil damages of up to $3m per defendant.

Only six of the defendants in the lawsuits were identified by name. The rest were identified by their internet addresses or website URLs. Once a lawsuit is filed, ISPs can seek subpoenas that would help them identify those they accuse of sending the spam.

The solution
The Quantos Consultancy believes that most UK companies can substantially improve the scope of their business development activities using new technology - and has full consultancy services available in online business development, emarketing and baulk email management (ebroadcasting). Clients wishing to avoid falling foul of the law or review their exposure or best practice scenarios can speak to either Colin Hiom on 07958 695444 or Quantos legal consultant and media expert Tony Morris on 020 7209 2093.

Other news
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Further information
For any other information please call Colin Hiom direct on 07958 695444.