spoofers

Lexington Herald-Leader (KY)

August 27, 2003

AMAZON SUES ALLEGED 'SPOOFERS'
COMPANY SAYS MARKETERS USED ITS NAME ON E-MAILS

Author: Helen Jung
Associated Press

Edition: Final
Section: BUSINESS
Page: C1
Dateline: SEATTLE

Estimated printed pages: 1

Article Text:

SEATTLE -- Amazon.com Inc. has filed federal lawsuits against 11 e-mail marketers, contending they faked their e-mail addresses to appear as if the messages were sent by Amazon.com, the company said yesterday.

The suits, filed Monday and yesterday in several U.S. district courts and in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Canada, seek injunctions to stop the alleged e-mail forgeries as well as millions of dollars in punitive damages.

The lawsuits are part of a broader effort by Amazon.com to stop e-mail "spoofing" of the company's name, the Seattle-based Internet retailer said in a statement.

Spoofing is a practice in which outsiders send e-mail to consumers that purports to be from another company or person. Amazon.com, Internet auction site eBay and other companies have long been targets of e-mail forgers.

In a related development, the New York Attorney General's Office announced a settlement yesterday with one alleged e-mail forger identified by Amazon.com.

The company, E.B.A. Wholesale Corp., which does business as Cyebye.com, has agreed to not use other companies' names in its marketing efforts, unless it has permission to do so. The Brooklyn, N.Y.-based company also agreed to pay $10,000 in penalties to the state of New York and is required to keep records of all commercial e-mail messages for the next two years.

Cyebye.com also agreed to pay Amazon an unspecified amount of money.

Shares of Amazon (AMZN: Nasdaq) closed a $45.93, up 8 cents.