America Online Works with Virginia Attorney General in First Criminal Indictments under Virginia's Anti-Spam Law

Business Wire, Dec 11, 2003

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

DULLES, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 11, 2003

Evidence Referred by AOL Members Helps Law Enforcement Apprehend Individual Identified as a "Top 10" Worldwide Spammer(1)

Junk emailers across the country, take note: spamming can be hazardous to your freedom.

That's the message sent out today by Virginia Attorney General Jerry Kilgore from AOL corporate headquarters in Northern Virginia, where he announced the first-ever felony indictment under Virginia's tough anti-spam law, which went into effect July 1st and is considered the toughest anti-spam law in the nation.

The indictment announced by the Commonwealth of Virginia charges a North Carolina resident with fraudulent or falsified transmission of unsolicited bulk e-mail, or "spam". According to the Attorney General's office, the defendant uses the alias "Gaven Stubberfield". According to the anti-spam organization Spamhaus (www.spamhaus.org), "Gaven Stubberfield" ranks number 8 on their "Top 10" Register of Known Spam Operations (ROKSO).

Using the "Report Spam" button, AOL members provided thousands of complaints that were used by the Commonwealth of Virginia to help investigate and indict the defendant.

"We applaud Attorney General Kilgore's swift action to vigorously enforce Virginia's tough anti-spam law. AOL, Virginia's online industry, and especially our millions of members, stand to benefit from their hard work," said Curtis Lu, Deputy General Counsel of AOL. "As part of AOL's comprehensive anti-spam enforcement strategy on behalf of our members, we have cooperated in Attorney General Kilgore's investigation of this defendant, and will continue to cooperate in actions brought both under Virginia's tough anti-spam law and also the new federal anti-spam law when it takes effect next year."

"Make no mistake about it," Lu continued: "Wherever you are in the country, no matter what state you live in - if you use techniques of falsification to spam AOL and its members, you can face stiff consequences under Virginia law. When AOL members use the 'Report Spam' button to provide spam complaints to AOL, they empower both law enforcement and AOL to take decisive action to hold spammers accountable for unlawful transmission techniques. Spammers who use outlaw tactics of falsification may find themselves behind jail bars instead of computer screens."

Joining Attorney General Kilgore and Mr. Lu at the press conference were industry leaders from MCI and the Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC), as well as state prosecutors and investigators involved in the case.

In 2002 and early 2003, AOL worked with industry leaders, state lawmakers, and Attorney General Kilgore's office to craft a new anti-spam state law that would levy strong criminal penalties on large-scale spammers who used tactics of fraud, falsification and deceit to send the most egregious and offensive junk emails to AOL members. After adoption of the law by the Virginia General Assembly, AOL hosted a ceremony at its corporate headquarters on April 29th where Governor Mark Warner signed the bill.

The criminal indictment announced today comes as AOL continues to vigorously pursue civil litigation filed earlier this year against over a dozen individuals alleged to have spammed AOL members with almost one billion junk emails.

(1) according to www.spamhaus.org

About America Online, Inc.

America Online, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Time Warner Inc. Based in Dulles, Virginia, America Online is the world's leader in interactive services, web brands, Internet technologies and e-commerce services