REDMOND, Wash., June 17 (UPI) -- Microsoft has filed 15 civil lawsuits in the United States and Britain against spammers who sent 2 billion e-mail messages to its MSN and Hotmail services.
Informationweek.com said Microsoft tracked spam activity across 34 international borders, ultimately identifying some of the most notorious spammers abusing the corporation's e-mail networks.
Microsoft officials said one of the alleged spammers convinced recipients they needed a patch to remove a virus, enticing them to download a disguised program that monitored their subsequent Internet activity.
Despite its Tuesday law filings, Microsoft told Informationweek it will not support any moves that would make all forms of unsolicited commercial e-mail illegal. That, said Microsoft, would make it too difficult for companies to maintain legitimate relationships with customers.
