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Microsoft joins AG in suing UT student for spam SEATTLE — A day after they were named in an anti-spam lawsuit by the Texas attorney general, Microsoft Corp. filed suit against a 22-year-old college student and his business partner. Microsoft today sued University of Texas student Ryan Pitylak and Mark Trotter, claiming they sent tens of millions of deceptive spam e-mails over Microsoft networks. Trotter is Pitylak's 40-year-old business partner from Encinitas, Calif. Microsoft helped the Texas attorney general by providing more than 20,000 e-mails that were captured in their trap accounts, Microsoft spokeswoman Erin McGhee said. An attorney for Pitylak and Trotter has said her clients worked to make sure the e-mails were legal. The Texas lawsuit, filed Thursday, seeks millions of dollars for violations of the federal Controlling Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003, known as the CAN-SPAM Act. The act made it illegal to send uninvited e-mails that could mislead recipients. Aaron Kornblum, Microsoft's Internet safety enforcement attorney, said the company contends that Pitylak and Trotter violated Washington state's anti-spam and consumer protection laws by misleading consumers. The lawsuit filed in federal court in Seattle is the company's 89th anti-spam suit in the United States, he said. "These actions are very important for (Microsoft) in that we're trying to change the economics of spam, trying to impose real costs on spammers both legally and financially," he said. Spammers pay little but benefit greatly, he said. "The costs of this business are borne by consumers because this mail is interfering with their business day, and by Internet service providers who are required to transmit and deliver it," he said. Microsoft must spend extra money on equipment, people and technology to handle spam. In addition, he said, customers complain to the company about it. Microsoft did not specify damages in its lawsuit, but Kornblum said penalties under state law could be $1,000 per e-mail. |