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Spammers threaten AOL
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December 31, 1997: 2:25 p.m. ET
E-mail group says it will publish addresses of 5 million AOL members
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - An organization representing bulk e-mailers has threatened to put on its Web site the e-mail addresses of 5 million America Online members unless the online service provider eases up on its e-mail restrictions.
The National Organization of Internet Commerce said Wednesday it would post the addresses on its site at midnight Jan. 8, a move that could leave the AOL customers open to all kinds of electronic mailings.
The NOIC delayed a previous threat to publish 1 million addresses at midnight Wednesday. AOL has about 10 million subscribers overall.
The NOIC said the addresses would be left up for 24 hours unless AOL allows small businesses to reach its members over the Internet.
The organization claims that AOL, which charges some larger businesses for access to its members, is freezing out smaller firms that want to reach its subscribers.
AOL has become a favorite target of spam mailings because of its attractive customer base. In retaliation, the online service has counterattacked spammers through both judicial and electronic means.
In a letter to the NOIC president Joe Melle, AOL attorney Charles D. Curran said AOL "will seek full legal redress, including compensatory and punitive damages," but went on to state that he hoped Melle "will reconsider your threat against our company."
For his part, Melle said his organization "is not making any profit and has nothing to gain by giving these names away except gaining more members."
However, Melle also said he was willing to discuss policies with AOL and suggest changes.
AOL has taken its e-mail concerns into court before, but in those situations it was battling firms that had actually sent electronic ads to members. This time it would be fighting someone who is merely putting a list of addresses on the Web.
Technically, the e-mail addresses are the private property of AOL. However, once people post on a newsgroup or enter a chat room, their addresses usually are seen by other Internet users.
The e-mail addresses NOIC said it will post are available for sale on CD-ROMS, which usually are bought by companies looking to send out their ads.
TSF Marketing, a California business that collects the addresses using special software, has donated the AOL names for the cause.
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