You've Got Spam!

Send him to Iraq with a sign saying I work for email addresses

said by ePCdoctor:

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:D Send him to Iraq with a sign saying I work for email addresses

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amen

there's the intelligence of aol.

On AOLs privacy page....

"Disclosure
We do not use or disclose information about your individual visits to AOL.com or information that you may give us on AOL.com, such as your name, address, email address or telephone number, to any outside companies. AOL.com may share such information in response to legal process, such as a court order or subpoena, or in special cases such as a physical threat to you or others. And, as we mention above, we may share with our Web site partners aggregated statistical "ratings" information about the use of AOL.com."

I would say that the several million email users have the right to sue AOL, wouldn't you think....

said by ghostpainter:

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I would say that the several million email users have the right to sue AOL, wouldn't you think....

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No, because Smathers wasn't working as an employee of AOL. Had he been under company orders to sell those names for the benefit of AOL, then yes. He actually stole private company information and sold it. Such is a federal crime.

said by yock:

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said by ghostpainter:

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I would say that the several million email users have the right to sue AOL, wouldn't you think....

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No, because Smathers wasn't working as an employee of AOL. Had he been under company orders to sell those names for the benefit of AOL, then yes. He actually stole private company information and sold it. Such is a federal crime.

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Having worked in the legal system for several years as a court case researcher I think I remember there is something called complicity of the non-defendant...Another words as in the case of a construction lawsuit against a specific builder, the Homeowners Association or homeowners themselves will pursue litigation against all parties involved on a project, whether it be the guy who installed the pluming to the guy who planted the grasss...AOL is the complicit party here because they collected the information and did not keep it safe....Even though this guy stole the information, AOL did not have it secured...They are the complicit party...I hope I got the right word....gdh

That's only if you assume that he didn't have legitimate access to the user database. Without knowing this guy's job description, you don't know if he had to circumvent security measures to get this information.

My guess is he at least had some legitimate access for his business purposes.

said by yock:

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That's only if you assume that he didn't have legitimate access to the user database. Without knowing this guy's job description, you don't know if he had to circumvent security measures to get this information.

My guess is he at least had some legitimate access for his business purposes.

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Ah, but a good lawyer would argue that since he had legitimate access that makes AOL complicit...If AOL came back and said he did not have legitimate access to their system's and files they are still complicit, because as I said before, they did not make sure the files were secure....Its a neat little phrase that Calif. lawyers got put into the Calif Civil code of Procedures back in the 90s...and the rest of country has kinda incorporated into there systems as well...

Corporations are often held liable for the illegal actions of their employees when those actions are performed under the scope of their employment. We don't have enough information to really tell what is going on here. We know that AOL had the man arrested, and they terminated his employment. If AOL can prove that they took all reasonable and prudent measures to prevent this from happening, they would not be liable by the law.

Now, AOL would get all sorts of bad press fighting it, and some people still wouldn't see it that way. I'm sure it would settle out of court for some disgusting amount. It's amazing how money solves people's problems...

said by yock:

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Now, AOL would get all sorts of bad press fighting it, and some people still wouldn't see it that way. I'm sure it would settle out of court for some disgusting amount. It's amazing how money solves people's problems...

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Even worse, I bet he gets a similar job at another company.

all fine and dandy, accept for one thing. before you can even enter the database for the customers, there is a disclaimer, as well as several documents employees must sign. you have to accept those terms before getting to peoples accounts. thus said it makes him souly responsible for the leak and only he can be punished. im sure none of you get paid as much as an aol lawyer no matter how long you've been in the "legal system". due to the magnitude of the offense it would end up being a class action lawsuit against a corp giant with money to waste. however, if any of you got a couple million laying around you can give it to me and i'll represent you against aol . in the long run it was a criminal act against the company that lead to the leak of information, thus the company is not at fault for acts of the individual.

i think that maybe you should read the TOS for aol anyway . it says that AOL can do what ever it pleases with your email address because your "using" a service... so pretty much you get what they give you and you cant do anything about it. and they can "cancle" that "service" because the sky is blue or it rained on tuesday.

are you simply saying 'guilty by association'?

said by wwdubbia:

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are you simply saying 'guilty by association'?

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It is a little bit more complicated than that, but in a sense correct...

What he's saying is there is no perfect way to shield a corporation from the illegal activities of their employees. You will have some liability no matter what you say or do.

I do, however, think that suing AOL over this would be nonsense. "I need a million dollars because I'm getting spam now!" That's just BS. If anyone suffers special damages (special damages is a legal term, look it up) then AOL could be liable for those, but general damages? (general damages are another legal term) I don't think so.

(general damages are another legal term) I don't think so.

Compensatory damages, defrayed, Complicit and Illusionary, when you get into the legal world a Judge will see a legal word that hasn't been used since Latin was converted to English and order his staff and all lawyers doing business in his court to do the same and from there it spreads...Blue backs on court documents were ordered by a Judge in L.A. Superior Court simply because he liked the fact that Bankruptcy Courts demanded they be used in all filings...I only mention this because if there is a way for an attorney to sue AOL, or someone out there who feels he has been damaged by AOL, they will do it...I would not be surprised to see a class action lawsuit filed on the behalf of all AOL users with about 4 accusers the "headliners"....

I work in insurance, hence "the generals" and "the specials" Just as well, my comments in parenthesis weren't directed at you.

I was merely commenting on collecting general damages from this. There would have to be some serious information available for a claim to be made there. Since it sounds as if the information collected was specifically for spamming, and not identity theft, I'm inclined to believe that what little scruples this guy has made him think twice before giving out the more sensitive information.

I could, however, be wrong...

said by yock:

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I work in insurance, hence "the generals" and "the specials" Just as well, my comments in parenthesis weren't directed at you.

I was merely commenting on collecting general damages from this. There would have to be some serious information available for a claim to be made there. Since it sounds as if the information collected was specifically for spamming, and not identity theft, I'm inclined to believe that what little scruples this guy has made him think twice before giving out the more sensitive information.

I could, however, be wrong...

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Oh, I know that, I was just adding food for thought, or folder for the canons...

Any database administrator has full access to the data in the database they maintain. No policy or procedure in the world could stop a criminal in that position from stealing the database info. One could argue that if he hacked through weak security to get the info, then AOL is liable. But if AOL had full security measures in place, and he exploited his position to obtain access, then AOL is not liable.

said by ackman:

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Any database administrator has full access to the data in the database they maintain. No policy or procedure in the world could stop a criminal in that position from stealing the database info. One could argue that if he hacked through weak security to get the info, then AOL is liable. But if AOL had full security measures in place, and he exploited his position to obtain access, then AOL is not liable.

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You are most likely correct, but then I am a betting man....Statue of limitations is now 2 years..I bet ya one icon;) that several lawsuits will be brought against AOL, because in Criminal law and especially Federal law anything is possible...

Not First?!?! amn

It's nice with all the spam out there, that you have to worry about people on the inside like this.

Thank god I don't have an gayol e-mail address.

said by Coolbrz:

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It's nice with all the spam out there, that you have to worry about people on the inside like this.

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It was bound to happen... Thankfully he's been caught...

I had an AOL account used only for FTP and hosting a Q&D website for a short time a year ago. It had email turned off, but I turned on email briefly for wedding RSVPs, and almost immediately got spammed. While it's possible that the address was inferred from the URL and found its way into a spammer's database that way, I figured it was proof positive that AOL was peddling users' email addresses on the side.

I still trust AOL as far as I can throw a fit, but knowing that a corrupt employee was selling email addresses and that he may get time makes me feel a little better.

lmao... what an ass, i wonder what his punishment will be.

said by Vich22:

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lmao... what an ass, i wonder what his punishment will be.

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He will be forced to used AOLs dialup service, no broad band allowed, for 5 years and have any email address he creates within that time period sold to spammers.

said by rorrim180:

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said by Vich22:

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lmao... what an ass, i wonder what his punishment will be.

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He will be forced to used AOLs dialup service, no broad band allowed, for 5 years and have any email address he creates within that time period sold to spammers.

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Ok that is going a little too far.Even using AOLs piss-poor dial-up service for 5 minutes is hell enough ,thank god it was at a friends house,not mine.

said by shit:

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said by rorrim180:

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said by Vich22:

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lmao... what an ass, i wonder what his punishment will be.

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He will be forced to used AOLs dialup service, no broad band allowed, for 5 years and have any email address he creates within that time period sold to spammers.

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Ok that is going a little too far.Even using AOLs piss-poor dial-up service for 5 minutes is hell enough ,thank god it was at a friends house,not mine.

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Priceless thats for sure

said by MTBikerChris:

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said by shit:

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said by rorrim180:

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said by Vich22:

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lmao... what an ass, i wonder what his punishment will be.

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He will be forced to used AOLs dialup service, no broad band allowed, for 5 years and have any email address he creates within that time period sold to spammers.

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Ok that is going a little too far.Even using AOLs piss-poor dial-up service for 5 minutes is hell enough ,thank god it was at a friends house,not mine.

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Priceless thats for sure

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Personally, I'd take 2 1/2 years of jail than 5 years of AOL but that's just me.

said by rorrim180:

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said by MTBikerChris:

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said by shit:

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said by rorrim180:

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said by Vich22:

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lmao... what an ass, i wonder what his punishment will be.

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He will be forced to used AOLs dialup service, no broad band allowed, for 5 years and have any email address he creates within that time period sold to spammers.

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Ok that is going a little too far.Even using AOLs piss-poor dial-up service for 5 minutes is hell enough ,thank god it was at a friends house,not mine.

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Priceless thats for sure

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Personally, I'd take 2 1/2 years of jail than 5 years of AOL but that's just me.

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LOL!:D

said by rorrim180:

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said by Vich22:

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lmao... what an ass, i wonder what his punishment will be.

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He will be forced to used AOLs dialup service, no broad band allowed, for 5 years and have any email address he creates within that time period sold to spammers.

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Don't forget the 250k penalty... Sold to spammers isn't enough, Should be paid to spammers to spam! and i know some people with massive spam mail bombers in case you're interested

do not pass go, do not collect 200 dollars.

Just about every vile, hideous, cruel and less than honorable way to die would be to good for persons of this nature. Everyone here bitches about their crappy bandwidth when 2/3 of all e-mail are spam. I say we take 2/3 of this man and put it in mail boxes.

Not happy about spam , , Xp4fiberoptic

Stone him to death with AOL disks!

said by Transmaster:

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Stone him to death with AOL disks!

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Good idea

Perhaps AOL CDs inside the CD cases

It was just a matter of time before someone on the "inside" would be caught selling e-mail lists. Makes me wonder how long before employees of the big search engines get caught as well.

is what the doc ordered.

With a $250k penalty, what did he make in return?? a gambling operation and ?? I can imagine the $250k will be a drop in the bucket.. Especially if they made 4 to 6 times that amount..

said by David:

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With a $250k penalty, what did he make in return?? a gambling operation and ?? I can imagine the $250k will be a drop in the bucket.. Especially if they made 4 to 6 times that amount..

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I dont think he made anymore than that amount, No more than 1 time more.

All ISPs employ "human beings" just like this fool. How many others are doing the same thing to us as we speak?

It's a great racket. You've got access to millions of addresses and that means lots of $$$. If you don't think you'll get caught that is. How are we protected from this other than warnings when they're hired and firing them after the fact?

Well per the code of business conduct here and employment practices...

if you terminate employment with SBC, you more or less pack your stuff up, a manager approves it (makes sure nothing company besides awards and recognition things leave) and all is dystroyed... Even the machine you sat at is re-imaged for a new person coming in.

So in a nutshell it all goes. My info I contain/collect associated with this project gets dystroyed by me, in the event of death I have instructed another drive share owner to wipe it for me.

The Code of business conduct for employees is rather direct and pretty simple to stay within, but like any business that does things illegally, there are those (example above) that like a little more in the paycheck than just a paycheck.. The fear is there with any company you deal with, remember the scam that happend to those card holders and it was an employee of a credit agency doing it?? Yep, it is a scary thought....

Hope this info helps a bit..

I used to work for a Global Telecommunications corp.
Every week I backed up my corporate laptop including my .pst to my home server.

Saved my ass when management conveniently "lost" several of my emails. After the first two times, they figured out that they couldn't catch me with lame old trick!!!
A$$holes !!!

...stop rejecting the idea of government intervention with regulation of the Internet. For the past several years, the majority of us have screamed that we don't want government regulations, because the gov't. screws everything up.

No doubt, the government employs ignorant people, makes biased opinions and can be difficult to deal with, but someone has t o have the authority to make laws and enforce them, else we'll be facing an endless number of hurdles such as this, without any relief in sight.

Personally, I don't believe that the release of personal information is limited to individuals working for these corporations, I believe that the corporations, themselves, are as guilty as any of the individuals who may be working on their own. I have created numerous e-mail accounts, only to find spam in every box before releasing the info. to any outside parties. Are some a result of "sniffing"? Sure, but I'm convinced that many, if not most, of the ISP's release this info. without our knowledge. Can I prove it? No. Nor will I, or anyone else, ever be able to do so without appropriate legislation.

There are simply too many people in the U.S., (and the entire world, for that matter), to ignore the necessity for governmental regulations. Our problem is that we "don't want to get involved", then complain when things "get out of hand".

The potential of the Internet is astonishing, yet, we are hampered with spam and spyware, ILECs that won't provide service to areas because they can't monopolize prices, the RIAA and MPAA who insist on screwing the artists and the consumer, etc., etc.

There is one, and only one way to fight all this BS. Unfortunately, it involves government intervention. It also involves each and everyone one of us to get up off our butts and do something about it, rather than whining and crying like spoiled children.

If you don't like the way things are working, change them. No. it's not easy. Nothing worthwhile ever is, but you can, at least, make an attempt to change the way things are.

Why am I writing this about some little, "pimple-faced" geek with no more scruples than common sense? Because putting him in jail isn't going to solve the problem! Guess what?!? He'll probably get six months probation! Will this deter others from making thousands of dollars for doing the same thing he did? Heck, no! Why won't he get a heavier sentence? Because we all keep screaming we don't want government intervention with the Internet, and refuse to do anything about electing representatives who offer to do something about these improprieties.

Hmm now I know why when my friend had aol and gave me an account to use for email, WHICH I NEVER USED. Was always full of bs even tho I never used the account. Good job aol!

They caught one so far. Just imagine how many others are selling emails at other isp's.

If it's not email addresses it's credit card numbers.

Not to mention that any "Code of Conduct" is only in effect at the time of termination. Whose to say the whole time he wasn't taking databases home on a flash drive so even if they destroy everything at his desk and on his workstation. It's too late. And if they have no reason to suspect foul play, he's scott free.

Considering that when I switched to Bellsouth DSL from Earthlink I NEVER even used my "@bellsouth.net" address but it is being spammed like crazy regardless. SOMEBODY at BS gave up the @$$ cause I sure didn't.

Anyone can get an AOL account using the free disks they send and gather a list of screen names using the built in search feature.

Then all they have to do is add @aol.com at the end and they are in business.

I'll see this information for $19.95.. we got VI@ g RA too!

GG.

»news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl ··· pam_dc_6

Found this on yahoo news.

But what about the thousands of spam messages aol subscribers received in their mailboxes prior to this person stealing the list?

I wonder how they would like to have 92 million AOL customers file a class-action lawsuit for theft of information and invasion of privacy?

Hmm.. an inside job....

didnt make as much as you'd think...
»rejo.zenger.nl/abuse/108 ··· 3870.php
hope theres a big ole bubba where ever he gets sent to

absolute best one liner.
Al Roker, The weather guy on NBC's Today show --
"You've got jail!!"

said by treetop1000:

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absolute best one liner.
Al Roker, The weather guy on NBC's Today show --
"You've got jail!!"

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He said that live? OMG LOL...I hope someone hs an online video of that - I'd love to see that one!

Disgruntled employees and contract employees (including those overseas) have access to your credit card information.

What is such the big deal about Email? Who does ever get away from spam these days? So you got a few more emails added to your spam folder of 100 junk emails a day.

Of course I don't get any spam!

When I used to get it though it was annoying but just one click of the mouse to delete, or auto set to the junk folder. How is that any worse then AOL spamming your mail box? Or any company spamming your mail box with Loads of utter junk and environmental paper waste that is completely unsolicited and in Bulk? And they don't even give any instructions on how to OPT-OUT of this shit. That physical mail drives me madder then any possible junk e-mail. Just because I order something from a company through the mail does NOT mean that I give them the right to send me 2-3 catalogs every week and other crap.

Why is it totally legal for all these ISP's to determine what is "junk email" spam and on there own bounce it back to the sender or delete it without the sender knowing it was deleted, but it is ILLEGAL for postal workers or anybody actually to destroy or not deliver PHYSICAL Junk Mail?

HMM.... Could it be because the fucking Government profits off of all the Junk Mail that gets sent all the time unsolicited? But they don't profit off of junk email? *Scratches Head*

If the fucking Government put this same Laws towards physical junk mail USPS would go out of business now that everyone uses email. Another reason to crack down on junk email. If no one can send unsolicited email they will have to send there sales material through snail mail to people (who list there addresses openly in the phone book but cry about privacy when it comes there freaking email addresses). And now that they could only use snail mail legally - CHA CHING Again for the Gov's USPS!

The legal so-called "justice" system is just as corrupt. It is not about the truth or justice. It is a waste of our fucking tax dollars is what it is! It does not stop crime or stop future crime. Not to mention that a large amount of the "laws" are not just to begin with and completely insane. Illegal Aliens will get 10 Years in Prison just for trying to get to a country to help there starving family out! How is that justice or necessary?

I don't think any imprisonment is going to stop any of these people when they get out of doing the same things. It probably just encourages it more. Especially after they can't get any regular jobs because of there record and reputation. What other choices will they have but to get money underground?

Really you almost have to be a huge corp. or Gov. official to be a 'real pro' criminal now days. Just with a big bubble of protection and secrecy.

In the perspective of the great Insane injustices and cruelty of this world that is still going on today world-wide, people crying about there poor fucking emails are a bunch of spoiled lame crybabies!

Just look around the world and the horrible things happening. You are lucky just to even HAVE a Computer and Email. Stop complaining. I'd like them to throw all of you in jail for a week and you'll be begging for your computer privledges back - spam included!