Internet Law
Judge Orders Shutdown of Huge Spam Ring Accused of Selling Viagra
Posted Oct 15, 2008, 08:00 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
A federal judge in Chicago has issued a temporary injunction barring operations of a huge spam network that is accused of selling the active ingredient in Viagra in a pill touted for male enhancement.
The operation may have been responsible for sending billions of illegal spam messages, the Federal Trade Commission says in a press release. The organization used several names but was often referred to as HerbalKing, the New York Times reports.
The judge, not identified in the press release or news stories, froze the assets of two defendants in Texas and New Zealand, the Chicago Tribune reports. The court also issued an injunction barring the men from sending spam or making false product claims.
Some security researchers believe the company had at one time been responsible for a third of the world’s spam, sent from a network of hijacked computers known as a “botnet.” The company also sold weight loss supplements and prescription drugs mailed from countries outside the United States.
The FTC contends the spammers violated the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 by using false header information and failing to list an opt-out link.