[LINK] spammer slammed

[Jan Whitaker]

FTC takes down a spam provider

http://blog.akismet.com/2009/06/10/ftc-takes-down-a-spam-provider/
4 am, June 10th, 2009

The FTC has 
<http://voices.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2009/06/ftc_sues_shuts_down_n_calif_we.html?hpid=sec-tech>launched 
legal action against a Californian web hosting 
service it says is responsible for botnets, 
malware, credit card theft and of course spam. 
The provider has been disconnected and its operators now face a lawsuit.

The FTC alleges that Pricewert/3FN operates as a 
“‘rogue’ or ‘black hat’ Internet service provider 
that recruits, knowingly hosts, and actively 
participates in the distribution of illegal, 
malicious, and harmful content,” including botnet 
control servers, child pornography and rogue 
antivirus products. 3FN also operates by the names APS Telecom and APX Telecom.

The provider is known as a frequent host of 
“scraper” or autoblog sites ­ fake blogs that 
re-publish unauthorized copies of content taken 
from other blogs, often sending spam pingbacks and trackbacks in the process.

Our sources indicate the network also provided 
services to several of the major forum and 
comment spammers. In particular, web sites owned 
by the developers of several spambot programs 
have been shut down (though we expect they will 
resurface elsewhere before long).

Of course if you’re using Akismet you won’t 
notice much of a difference: Akismet has long 
been highly effective at catching spam produced 
by their spambots and autoblogs.



Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jwhit at janwhitaker.com
blog: http://janwhitaker.com/jansblog/
business: http://www.janwhitaker.com

Our truest response to the irrationality of the 
world is to paint or sing or write, for only in such response do we find truth.
~Madeline L'Engle, writer

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