Microsoft and Pfizer Target Viagra Spam and Cross-Border Sales

In a collaborative effort, Pfizer Inc (Pfizer) and Microsoft Corp (Microsoft) have launched parallel lawsuits against two "international pharmacy spam rings" designed to promote and sell illegal versions of Pfizer's blockbuster drug, Viagra. The cross-industry partnership began with a joint, seven-month investigation that revealed an international sales and distribution network linked to online purveyors CanadianPharmacy www.cndpharmacy.com> and E-Pharmacy Direct www.epharmacydirect.com>. According to investigators, consumers were directed via spam to these web sites, where they could place orders for drugs advertised as Viagra. The orders were received on computers in New York City and sent to a call centre headquartered in Canada, and were then filled in India with allegedly illegal products which were shipped to the US without verification of their safety and efficacy. Together, the Pfizer and Microsoft lawsuits aim to cover the entire supply chain for the products. Pfizer has filed civil actions against the operators of the web sites, claiming trade-mark infringement, unfair competition and violation of the US Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act. Pfizer has also filed domain name actions against web sites using Pfizer's Viagra trademark such as www.halfpriceviagra.com. In turn, Microsoft has targeted the spammers advertising for the web sites, as well as spammers marketing other online pharmacies, alleging that Viagra spam is in violation of the US CAN-SPAM Act and other state and federal laws. These spammers have allegedly sent hundreds of millions of e-mail messages to Microsoft's MSN Hotmail customers within the past year alone. In total, 17 new actions have been filed, mostly in the form of "John Doe" complaints since the defendants' identities are largely unknown. The companies are likely to subpoena records from Internet providers and other sources to locate them. According to some industry estimates, spam advertising Viagra and similar drugs account for one out of every four spam messages. It "made sense", said a Pfizer spokesperson, to take coordinated action with Microsoft considering the volume of spam generated by Viagra and Microsoft's expertise in tracking down spammers. For related news reports, see: http://makeashorterlink.com/?O2F124B8A; http://makeashorterlink.com/?T31221B8A; http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/11/technology/11spam.html http://www.itbusiness.ca/print.asp?sid=58096. Summary by: Rosa Kim