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Spamhaus: MCI is Spam Harborer
Makes estimated $5 million from hosting
Spamhaus slammed MCI late last week for their lack of effort to shut down a number of spammers (and Trojan/proxy spam software distributors) who have taken up residence on the company's network. According to Spamhaus, MCI is making $5 million a year from hosting 189 known "spam gangs" around the world. "MCI executives have refused to stop providing service to these gangs, insisting that the sale and distribution of stealth spamming software is "not against MCI's policy," claims the report.
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B04
Premium Member
join:2000-10-28

B04

Premium Member

What's Wrong With That?


Okay, I haven't READ the article ( ), but what's wrong with "sale and distribution of stealth spamming software"?

Is there such a thing as illegal software, DMCA notwithstanding? I've not heard that e-mail software of any kind is illegal, or even immoral. What makes the spammers' software so objectionable as to violate the average ISP's terms of service?

Of course, if MCI is allowing the ACT of spamming via its services, that's a whole 'nother story...

-- B

goalieskates
Premium Member
join:2004-09-12
land of big

1 recommendation

goalieskates

Premium Member

Re: What's Wrong With That?

said by B04:

Okay, I haven't READ the article ( -- B
Maybe you should. You might answer your own question.
B04
Premium Member
join:2000-10-28

B04

Premium Member

Re: What's Wrong With That?


Okay, I did. The article uses the word "illegal" several times, with no supporting documentation.

Should MCI be shamed out of this activity? Sure.

Is there any legal reason they should stop? Not that I'm aware of.

For the scummy spamming gangs, what particular advantage does having a storefront hosted by MCI have over a storefront hosted by someISPinTheThirdworld.net ? Again, even after reading the article, it only appears they're DISTRIBUTING SOFTWARE, not spamming.

-- B

TechyDad
Premium Member
join:2001-07-13
USA

TechyDad

Premium Member

Re: What's Wrong With That?

I'll agree that a bulk e-mailing program in and of itself isn't (and shouldn't be) illegal. There are plenty of legitimate uses for one of those (including running a valid, opt-in mailing list).

However, the software the article mentions is designed to hook up to trojaned PCs and use them to send out bulk e-mails. That first part (connecting to a trojaned PC) is the part that makes the software illegal IMO.

MCI is claiming that the software is "protected speech" and they would be censoring it by taking it down. This argument doesn't fly with me (or Spamhaus) because the software is designed to break into a user's computer. (The fact that a trojan is what is letting them in is irrelevant. You are still breaking and entering if an accomplice of yours gets into the house and opens the door from the inside.)
B04
Premium Member
join:2000-10-28

B04

Premium Member

Re: What's Wrong With That?


Well, but exactly. Crowbars aren't illegal! Neither are lockpicks as far as I know.

Should MCI stop dealing with scum? Absolutely. Is there a legal reason they should? I don't see it.

However, community pressure (like Spamhaus's) is entirely called for.

-- B

Unregistered user

Anon

Re: What's Wrong With That?

Yes, but crowbars and lockpicks have legitimate uses outside of breaking into a house. Programs designed to connect to infected PCs do not. That's not to say they're illegal, but it sure makes it hard to justify hosting them.
Dissman
join:2001-04-26
Alexandria, VA

Dissman to B04

Member

to B04
In most states, lockpicks ARE illegal to posess for anyone but a locksmith. They are referred to as "Theives tools." Crowbars, on the other hand, have a myriad of other uses then for B&E.
B04
Premium Member
join:2000-10-28

B04

Premium Member

Re: What's Wrong With That?

Thanks. You're right. Apparently it varies by country, by state, and even locality. I found some more at »www.lockpicking101.com/v ··· p?t=3553

-- B

keith2468
Premium Member
join:2001-02-03
Winnipeg, MB

keith2468 to B04

Premium Member

to B04
In most jurisdictions, the sale of lock smith tools to anyone other than a licensed locksmith is in fact illegal.

Similarly, the sale of machine guns, rocket launchers, aircraft equipped to carry bombs and missiles, and nuclear and biological weapons, are all restricted.

orbizm
@gorge.net

orbizm to B04

Anon

to B04
I hear your arguement, and I have to say that I am generally hesitant to support paternalist mindsets and legislation. Still, I think that you are overlooking, in your arguement that the SPIRIT of the law has not been violated, that 'conspiracy', 'attempted' and 'accomplice to' ARE legal terms that apply here.

It _IS_ illegal to solicit homicide. It is not legal to have a site, for instance, that creates a resource pool for accomplishing homicide. While spamming and trafficking in malware is not quite homicide, it is significantly malicious in spirit.

That's my 2 cents worth--I think that you are looking for a spelled out statement of what may be too obvious to state.

PhoenixDown
FIOS is Awesome
Premium Member
join:2003-06-08
Fresh Meadows, NY

PhoenixDown to B04

Premium Member

to B04
Is it MCI directly or is some reseller utilizing MCI's backbone somewhere?

nixen
Rockin' the Boxen
Premium Member
join:2002-10-04
Alexandria, VA

nixen to B04

Premium Member

to B04
said by B04:

Of course, if MCI is allowing the ACT of spamming via its services, that's a whole 'nother story...
I used to work for an MCI-owned web hosting company (up until about June of last year). We had more than one customer that I would classify as a spammer. They were as much a problem for our networks as they were for their target audience. The suck part was, in order to repair our own networks, it ended up benefiting these asshats.

-tom
drewber
Premium Member
join:2003-06-04
New Bedford, IL

drewber to B04

Premium Member

to B04
MCI = WorldCom...... yes thier scumbags.. Not only did world comm fake the price of thier stock etc, do you know how many lives were ruined from it. Peoples retirement and profit sharing worth nothing now.

I personally refuse to do any kind of work with worldcom/mci.

So if a company has no regret over ruining someones retirement, thier profit sharing, laying off thousands of people just to make a buck, i wouldnt put hosting spammers past them. Just the type of thing that i expect from worldcom/MCI

PhoenixDown
FIOS is Awesome
Premium Member
join:2003-06-08
Fresh Meadows, NY

PhoenixDown

Premium Member

Re: What's Wrong With That?

You seem to forget that many of the employees of Worldcom got burned also

daniyel
join:2001-05-10
Tucson, AZ

daniyel to B04

Member

to B04
First poster; An idea...read the story and then you will not have to foot your mouth.

Mass mailing software is against any lucrative web hosting companies TOS/AUP. Working for the largest web hosting company in New Mexico(35,000 clients), we were told to contact a client who sold desktop mass mailing software on their site, as they were violating our AUP and also lead us into the RBL's, which are never fun to deal with.

They were surprised, but in the end they knew left w/o incident.

MCI needs to stop this practice, or be fined or sued if they do not comply. With the Fed's getting into this "thing called spam", you would only guess they have their hands far enough down MCI's pockets to either;

a. stop the practice
b. defend the practice

When money talks, the Government is all ears. I wouldn't expect anything more to come out of this, unless Spamhaus somehow has the financial strength to fight MCI and the US Government which supports them at all times.
B04
Premium Member
join:2000-10-28

B04

Premium Member

Re: What's Wrong With That?

Where's my foot in my mouth, genius? When I finally read the article it didn't change my stance at all. Try reading the thread.
said by daniyel:

Mass mailing software is against any lucrative web hosting companies TOS/AUP.
Apparently not. Try reading the thread.

-- B

Link Logger
MVM
join:2001-03-29
Calgary, AB

Link Logger

MVM

Spambots legal I don't think so

If MCI spammers use spambots to relay their spam (very likely) then there is no doubt it is illegal and I would think against MCI AUP, however I wonder how much AUP flexibility $5 Million a year gets you from low life scum management who care only about their bottom line and hence bonuses?

Blake

GetAfrigginCLUE
@taylor01.mi.comcast.

GetAfrigginCLUE

Anon

NO SH*T !!!

Ya think their might be a FINANCIAL INCENTIVE for SPAMMERS and SPYWARE writers and the SCUMBAGS who allow them to attack every PC online???

DUH !!!

DaSneaky1D
what's up
MVM
join:2001-03-29
The Lou

1 edit

DaSneaky1D

MVM

Re: NO SH*T !!!

For once, I agree with you. Spammers throw HUGE service deposits to get service up and running. Then they leave the ISP to sort out the trash after they leave. As long as spammers have the money to do this, ISP's will keep supplying them network resources.

AtomicZero
join:2004-11-24
West Palm Beach, FL

2 recommendations

AtomicZero

Member

Re: NO SH*T !!!

Classic example of money v. ethics

Doctor Four
My other vehicle is a TARDIS
Premium Member
join:2000-09-05
Dallas, TX

2 edits

Doctor Four to GetAfrigginCLUE

Premium Member

to GetAfrigginCLUE
Not surprising in the least, considering who we're
talking about here. Worldconcom, the
company who garnered one of highest fraud fines in
history, even more than Enron or Tyco. And MCI, aka
Worldcom, aka UUNet, doesn't care about spammers being
hosted on their network, nor clueless worm infested
users whose machines have been turned into spam/DDoS
xombies, nor illegal spam/proxy software sites on their
network. As long as they get paid, that's all they care
about. Is it any wonder they are also known by anti-spam
advocates (particulary those on the newsgroup news.admin.
net-abuse.email) as spew-spew net?

And take a look at Spamhaus.org's listing for MCI:
189 of them, with many (I stopped counting after 30)
ROKSO listings. They include such notorious spammers
as Scott Richter, Eddy Marin, and Brian Haberstroh (the
spammer who's trying to file a SLAPP suit against
someone who complained about his spamming - he claims
that he's in compliance with CAN-SPAM, when that is
clearly a lie.)

keith2468
Premium Member
join:2001-02-03
Winnipeg, MB

keith2468

Premium Member

Worldcom !

Shuten Doji excellent observation. I'd forgotten that.

ColdFiltered
join:2005-01-25
Atlanta, GA

ColdFiltered

Member

What would you expect from WorldCon?

Is it really that surprising that the corporate ethics of this company has remained unchanged since their uncovered scandal? You can change the company name, but don't even begin to presume you have changed the company, its philosophy, or its business ethics.
Cyber2lz
join:2001-11-15
Odessa, FL

Cyber2lz

Member

MCI WorldFraud

I've said it before and I'll say it again.
Not just senior management was the problem at this company!
That attitude was/is pervasive.
Die, MCI, Die !
toddinpal
join:2002-09-18
Palatine, IL

toddinpal

Member

Simply amazing

MCI's response in the Washington Post is practically laughable. I hope MCI ends up in the corporate trashcan where it belongs.
hedyd4u
Premium Member
join:2003-12-16
Schenectady, NY

hedyd4u

Premium Member

Is Hijacking computers legal?

MCI host the website that sells hijacking software. How do they justify that? Aside from the name calling when is hijacking someones computer a legal activity? And since MCI has major income from the promotion of porn, the rumors of a Verizon buyout would be bad for these people since Verizon will not sell those services. Since everything MCI does is questionable, they have the most obnoxious telemarketer, the only good thing they have is infrastructure. Maybe a buyout of MCI would be good for all of us.


This proxy spam ware is mostly written by Russians, and in particular by two Russians well known to Spamhaus and western law enforcement agencies. By no coincidence, new versions of their proxy spam ware appear to be released just as new Sobig virus variants make their appearance, and the proxy spam ware coincidentally has features to command the new viruses to operate in new ways.

The two Russians are Ruslan Ibragimov, author of the 'Send-Safe' proxy spam ware, and Alexey Panov, author of the equally illegal Direct Mail Sender ("DMS") proxy spam ware, both packages designed specifically for hijacking of 3rd party computers and illegal anonymous spamming. Both also sell lists of freshly-infected proxies to the spammer community. Spamhaus believes Ibragimov and Panov have far too many connections to the Sobig virus for these to be coincidences.

Ibragimov's Send-Safe in particular, has a feature called "Use proxy's MX" which is causing a large increase in spam for many ISPs. This Send-Safe feature instructs its hijacked proxies to send the spam out via the upstream ISP's main mail server (instead of the proxy sending the spam out from the infected machine itself). This means that billions of spam emails now flood the Internet coming from the main mail servers of large ISPs.




So where is this stealth proxy spam ware sold and distributed from? For Send Safe the answer is, www.send-safe.com, hosted by MCI Worldcom.


i love mci
@uu.net

i love mci

Anon

i love mci

i love it i can do whatever i want thank you mci

Ivybridge_I7
Cyber-Crime Researcher OpSec
Premium Member
join:2004-06-09
Daytona Beach, FL

2 edits

1 recommendation

Ivybridge_I7

Premium Member

MCI Greed-Com does harbor spammers

I sent MCI about fifty complaints regarding the site usa.pvitcael.biz which is run by Steve Goudreault.

It looks to me like the site is still online even after I aggressively sent complaints . This is enough evidence to prove that in fact MCI harbors spammers

canonical name usa.pvitcael.biz.
aliases
addresses 63.111.25.9
Name Server: NS1.WCALOLAX.US
Name Server: NS2.WCALOLAX.US
18 23 23 23 157.130.216.46 pos6-0.ur2.atl7.web.wcom.net
19 23 23 23 198.5.128.142
20 24 24 23 63.111.6.233
21 44 44 44 63.111.25.9

Registrant Name: Steve Goudreault
Registrant Organization:American Loan Rate
Registrant Address1:8175 S. Virginia St
Registrant Address2:336
Registrant City:Reno
Registrant Postal Code:89511
Registrant Country:United States
Registrant Country Code:US

franknalco
join:2005-01-27
Littleton, CO

franknalco

Member

Govt.'s NOT ISP's need to step up

The reality is that the governments should be stopping the sale of any illegal software, not an ISP. If I owned an ISP I probably wouldn't want them using my network for the distribution of this program, but someone is going to host them. Intelligent laws governing spam distribution needs to be in place, and governments are already putting those who write and distribute viruses in to prison. Chasing them from ISP to ISP is not a solution.

keith2468
Premium Member
join:2001-02-03
Winnipeg, MB

keith2468

Premium Member

FBI Tip URL

There is a lot to be said for that position. It is a good postion.

While so many Americans are happy to bitch about foreign spammers they can do nothing about, they are reluctant to use the FBI web site to request an investigation on a company they can do something about.

»tips.fbi.gov/

Sending a tip does not mean a promise to testify. They'll take it from there.

(Sadly, I'm not in the USA so I can't directly do much myself on this.)
russotto
join:2000-10-05
West Orange, NJ

russotto

Member

So is it end-to-end or not?

Do you REALLY want your hosting provider to decide what you can and cannot sell via your connection? Sure, it's SPAM software today. Maybe it's pr0n tomorrow, though, and on down the line.

If this software is really illegal, that's one thing. But merely because software may be used for an illegal purpose doesn't make it illegal.

••••

franknalco
join:2005-01-27
Littleton, CO

franknalco

Member

The Law and the ISPs

I still don't see any connection between the sellers of the software and the ISPs. If my neighbor was selling crack cocaine, I wouldn't waste my time calling the GLAD baggy company and complaining to them to stop selling the dude little wrappers. I'd call the cops.

Spamhaus wants to stop dude from selling his "illegal" software - don't call MCI. Call the Feds or the Virginia AG. If all that fails - call Spitzer in NY. He won't pass. He hates everybody.