Pfizer and Microsoft go after Viagra Spammers 205
Weird_Hock writes "This story from Reuters
tells about the joint effort from Pfizer and Microsoft to go after illegal sellers of Viagra. Pfizer is going after the sellers and Microsoft after the spammers. Looks like they're targeting both sides of the money chain."
No Case (Score:5, Funny)
Microsoft should double-dip and file a parallel lawsuits against spammers who sell Full Version WinXP PRO for $35.
Re:No Case (Score:2, Funny)
I forward all WinXP spams to MS (Score:5, Interesting)
I figure that I'll let MS spend their money on going after the spammers - after all, the enemy of my enemy is my enemy's enemy, and is useful to me.
I get a nice auto-ack from MS with a tracking number for each report. What does that mean? That I get a nice auto-ack from MS with a tracking number - I have no way of knowing for sure that they do anything with the reports.
But hey, it if nukes a spammer and/or costs MS money, then it's worth it.
Re:I forward all WinXP spams to MS (Score:5, Interesting)
They do not seem to care.
Interestingly enough, the names shifted from (variations on) cashchangeukltd.org, which is just the name of a fraudulent organization, to (variations on) ms-wordpromo.com, which could be seen as a trademark violation by their triggerhappy lawyers. You know, those that went after names like mikerowesoft.com because it was too much like a trademark they registered.
But despite several reports, nothing seems to happen. They just go on facilitating fraud, and even do so under their own trademarked names.
I start to believe that there is nothing more than a tracking number generator behind those reporting addresses, and the big Microsoft company is not interested in abuse of its trademarks.
Re:I forward all WinXP spams to MS (Score:2)
I could have reported the spam, but I figure they have lawyers who would want to "introduce" themselves
Re:I forward all WinXP spams to MS (Score:2)
FROM: THE DESK OF THE E-MAIL PROMOTIONS MANAGER,
INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS/PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT
MICROSOFT WORD LOTTERY, UK
3B Olympic Way, Sefton Business Park,
Aintree, Liverpool, L30 1RD.
E-mail:admin@ms-wordpromos.com
REF NO: MSW-L/200-334841
BATCH: 2005MJL-01
ELECTRONIC MAIL AWARD WINNING NOTIFICATION
We are pleased to inform you of the announcement today of winners of
the MICROSOFT WORD E-MAIL MEGA JACKPOT LOTTERY PROGRAMS held on 3rd
FEBRUARY 2005. You
Re:I forward all WinXP spams to MS (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:I forward all WinXP spams to MS (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:I forward all WinXP spams to MS (Score:3)
Re:I forward all WinXP spams to MS (Score:2)
Re:I forward all WinXP spams to MS (Score:2)
The enemy (Microsoft) of my enemy (spammers)...
Re:I forward all WinXP spams to MS (Score:5, Insightful)
But frankly your argument's silly anyway. I consider MS my enemy. I consider the RIAA and MPAA member companies my enemy. I consider most of the BSA companies my enemy, and I consider the OPEC members to be enemies. Why? Their goal, even if they aren't breaking laws, is to make money at all costs. If that cost is my freedoms (RIAA/MPAA and the congresscritters they own), my quality of life, or what else, so be it, they don't care as long as they make money. They're in business to make money from me even if I fully wish to not pay them a damned cent. I don't willingly, but my tax dollars keep going to them (at the least to pay the damn congresscritters they've bought who represent the companies first and the real people last). I consider that enemy worthy, and worth fighting.
Power over me? They already have power over you, me and all of us. Hell just look at the litany of bills presented, along with the ones that made it into law. You can't tell me things like the DMCA haven't already given them enormous power over each and every one of us. Companies keep proving they're willing to abuse it any way they see fit. Want to stifle research into security flaws? Already been done, will happen again. Want to try and make sure no one can sell generic parts for your equipment? Already being done, look at the printer manufacturers.
Sorry, but I don't have to do a damned thing for them to have power over me. They already do, and that's another part of why I consider them my enemies. If you don/t, well congrats on enjoying all those laws and restrictions they've placed on you. I'll be fighting them tooth and nail for the existing ones and future ones while you enjoy having your rights and freedoms removed. Personally I want mine back.
Re:I forward all WinXP spams to MS (Score:2)
So, tell me again how they have power over me?
Re:I forward all WinXP spams to MS (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:I forward all WinXP spams to MS (Score:2)
Re:I forward all WinXP spams to MS (Score:3, Insightful)
I think they do Maliciosly attack any technology that threatens thier OS monopoly. They try to keep Web standards to "IE only" thus forcing Web Surfers to have Windows. They try to make MS Office the defacto standard in bussiness thus forcing most bussiness machines to have Windows. They are trying to make windows audio/vidio formats the future "standard" with WMP thus fo
Is Microsoft friend or enemy? (Score:3, Interesting)
What good they did to me?
What bad they did for me:
Re:No Case (Score:1)
oh no! (Score:1)
Re:oh no! (Score:2, Funny)
but then where will i get my illicit viagra that i so desparately need
Make sure you also buy Absorbine Jr. for when your arm gets sore.
Can't Get Your System Up???? (NT) (Score:2)
(Insert Windows uptime joke here)
Re:what normal people do? (Score:1)
Stop taking the fun out of life! (Score:5, Funny)
But they'll never get my... my... ohmigod, what do I have left??
Re:Stop taking the fun out of life! (Score:5, Funny)
"This is my rifle, this is my gun, this is for killing, this is for fun."
Re:Stop taking the fun out of life! (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Stop taking the fun out of life! (Score:4, Funny)
You still have sex! I guess if you are going with the sex, drugs, and rock and roll theme.
Howdy partner! Let me be the first to welcome you to Slashdot! Have a nice day!
Re:Shouldn't the headline really read: (Score:5, Funny)
"Pfizer and Microsoft erect barriers to Viagra spam."
"Pfizer and Microsoft have the balls to go after Viagra spammers."
Re:Shouldn't the headline really read: (Score:3, Informative)
Pfizer and Microsoft rise to the challenge with barriers erect showing they have the balls to go down on these Viagra spammers.
There's a joke here (Score:2, Funny)
Re:There's a joke here (Score:5, Funny)
Analysts.. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Analysts.. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Analysts.. (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Analysts.. (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Analysts.. (Score:2, Funny)
Oh no! (Score:5, Insightful)
Anyhow - if the big dogs are moving now - after the can-spam-act, it's interesting what kind of stable equilibruum the next generation spam will be. It won't go away - It'll just reach the next stage.
On the bottom of the first page are the stock qoutes von Pfizer and Microsoft. There is a horizontal movement of Pfizer and a slight downward movement of Microsoft. What does that suggest about the markets expectation of future distribution of vi4gra?
Re:Oh no! (Score:1, Informative)
Past performance does not guarantee future results. (applies to the stocks and viagra)
As always (Score:5, Funny)
Re:As always (Score:2)
Re:As always (Score:2)
Re:As always (Score:2)
And the next thing you know... (Score:1)
How about castration??? (Score:3, Funny)
Just maybe... (Score:5, Funny)
let the jokes begin! (Score:5, Funny)
Someone is gonna be in a world of hurt.
MS and pfizer are going to spread some love around.
There will be swelling in some lawyers'...pockets.
No carrots for the spammers. Just some bloated, throbbing, heavy-handed...sticks.
And in other news... (Score:2)
Pfizer's "Viagra" AD prescription has sagged.
Pfizer stock price plummets 05 percent.
Analysts conjecture that demand has stiffened
for the two competing AD prescription brands.
Stay tuned for more news...
hmm (Score:4, Funny)
Re:hmm (Score:5, Funny)
First draft of the press release: (Score:5, Funny)
"These guys think they can keep profits rising endlessly," complained a Pfizer spokesperson. "They are really beginning to poke us in the eye with their nonsense. We are a big company, and Viagra has helped up grow considerably. We won't let these crooks cut our profits off prematurely."
(Memo to editorial staff: Does the above sound right? Something seems a bit odd.)
And in other news.... (Score:3, Funny)
Critics point out that the first version of any product from Microsoft never stays up for long, and that users should wait for the second release, unless they are willing to accept permanent loss of data assets.
I wonder ... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:I wonder ... (Score:2)
Perhaps they will opt for retrograde evacuation.
Re:First draft of the press release: (Score:2)
ROFL! That was truly hilarious!
Re:First draft of the press release: (Score:3, Funny)
New Market! (Score:1)
If there's one thing big criminals don't like... (Score:5, Insightful)
...it's small-time criminals moochin' in on their racket.
Now if they would only attack WaMu phishers (Score:2)
Re:Now if they would only attack WaMu phishers (Score:2)
Re:Now if they would only attack WaMu phishers (Score:3, Interesting)
Also ClamAV [clamav.net] can be used to scan incoming email on the server side and has definitions for many phishing attacks as well as worms and viruses.
Re:Now if they would only attack WaMu phishers (Score:2)
Wrong Target (Score:2, Insightful)
Why can't someone go after those spammers. At least viagra actually works.
Both sides of the chain. (Score:2)
bwa-ha-ha! (Score:1)
ed
Vested interest? (Score:4, Funny)
I wonder if Microsoft has an ulterior motive in this whole crackdown.
Thank you. I'm here all week.
Re:Vested interest? (Score:2)
Yeh yeh (Score:2)
Re:Vested interest? (Score:2)
It's just a front: (Score:3, Funny)
mmmmpffff (Score:4, Insightful)
I knew Bill was getting old... (Score:3, Funny)
Trademark dilution? (Score:5, Interesting)
Up until that point, I'd been getting spams for "pharmaceutical" (read: "quackery) products, like the usual "herbal penis pills", "natural apricot pits cancer cure!", "b00st your immune system", "legal pot substitute", and so on.
If I'd never heard of Viagra before, I'd have lumped it in along with phen-phen, ephedra, and laetrile as the quack medicines I'd historically been getting spams for: that is, substances of questionable efficacy, safety, and/or legality.
Quickly now, (off the top of your head, without googling and without being a pharmacist), which of the following - Effexor, Paxil, Viagra, Cialis, Phenteramine, Valium, Xanax, Soma, Lipitor, Zyban, Zantrex, Xenical, Meridia and Fioricet - are "real" medicines (that is, which have been approved by FDA for the treatment of medical conditions), and which are fake/quack/banned?
If you get even one false-positive (that is, a "real" drug that a reasonable person dismiss es as "quacky" due to its prevalence in spam), I'd say the manufacturer of that drug has a prima facie case for trademark dilution against every spammer who spammed for it.
Re:Trademark dilution? (Score:2)
Emphesis mine
And if you're interested in buying some Soma [somaweb.org], can I also interest you in some Prozium [imdb.com]?
They're ALL crap if they're sold over the Internet (Score:4, Interesting)
V1@gr4, C|al1$, 0xycOnt1n and the rest of those (the real ones) are PRESCRIPTION drugs - "Controlled Substances" - the distribution of which (without proper licensing & documentation) is a Big Federal Felony(tm). Anyone "selling" any of those things on the Internet is selling - at best - fakes, and is more likely a simple fraud.
Even if they're doing it from offshore, selling the REAL stuff (particularly narcotics like Oxyc0d0ne) is a big enough crime (in the US) to obtain action from Interpol resulting in extradition of the offenders. These are scams, every bit as much as Muhammed Al-Quedah, who wants to cut you in on the $22e6 which he skimmed out of Sadam's treasury, and now needs your (confidential) help to get it out of the Netherlands.
Re:They're ALL crap if they're sold over the Inter (Score:2)
Re:Trademark dilution? (Score:2)
Re:Trademark dilution? (Score:2)
Congrats -- I first thought of the trademark infringement issue when I flubbed it on "Soma". Heh, a painkiller named Soma. "Yeah, right."
Then I found out it was a real medication. In Ford's name, what was that marketing department thinking? (I'm slowly learning never to underestimate the stupidity of marketroids.)
I wonder how many patients do a double-take or pop out a Huxley reference wh
Re:Trademark dilution? (Score:2)
Re:Trademark dilution? (Score:2)
i don't know about you.. (Score:2)
atb
Suchetha
Spam in general (Score:5, Interesting)
I think that this will be good for users. Both companies have something to gain by there being less spam, and thus it will help both companies bottom lines to get rid of it.
What I hope they *don't* do (since both companies are large) is throw money at the problem and hope it gets fixed.
I think this is a good day for the internet in general!
That's ironic... (Score:2, Funny)
Stupid claim (Score:4, Insightful)
Huh?
I think that not only is that bullshit, that they're actually doing it to try to prevent reimportation (as well as the stopping of non-Pfizer sildenafil citrate).
Re:Stupid claim (Score:2)
Huh?
I think that not only is that bullshit, that they're actually doing it to try to prevent reimportation (as well as the stopping of non-Pfizer sildenafil citrate).
We have discussed this before (Score:2, Insightful)
When taking over IT on a small advertising agency with lots of Macs at the creative dept and
With "LongHorn" coming out.... (Score:2, Funny)
"Short-limp horn" is not nearly as compelling!
Oh no! (Score:2)
Wow, neat (Score:2)
Readers: Well...good for them.
Quick, someone take a picture of the page before a dominant theory emerges on why this is in fact a malevolent scheme on the part of Microsoft and Pfizer to take away our freedoms.
But what about... (Score:2)
Merger (Score:3, Funny)
The run-up (Score:2)
"Honey! Come to bed, It's Wednesday and you know what that means!"
Bill: "Be right there dear - just trying out these - uh - vitamins I bought on-line"
20 minutes later
"Doh!"
A killer combination... (Score:2, Funny)
That doesn't sound good
Why isn't the DEA going after them? (Score:2)
I wonder why we haven't seen this and it takes MS/Pfizer joining forces to make an issue out of it. Does this make any sense?
Everyone else against spam too: Earthlink & th (Score:3, Informative)
Winning these cases (and most importantly, many more) against the spammers would be much easier, of course, if the U.S. finally adopted an opt-in requirement as well [slashdot.org], stating that there is no way you CAN SPAM [slashdot.org], like in the EU where under a new agreement on anti-spam enforcement [eu.int], one single complaint will now even suffice to send the authorities round to eradicate any remaining spammers' hideouts in 13 Member States at once.
OEM viagra (Score:2, Funny)
Won't help (Score:2)
Re:Won't help (Score:2)
Yep... as far as I know, they don't sell Cialis in the UK, but I heard about it and figured out what it was entirely from spam I received.
Simple (Score:3, Funny)
1) Threaten spammers
2) Buy out or eliminate
3) Pick up the spamming technology and patents
4) Bundle with windows
5) CTRL-ALT-DEL to log on and would you like some V1@gR@ with that?
Obligatory lame Leno joke about Viagra (Score:2, Funny)
JAY: Hey Kevin.. just read the newspaper..
KEVIN: What, Jay.. chortle, gahahaha..
JAY: and get this--true story!!--a train was derailed today--i'm not making this up here!
KEVIN: *laughs*
JAY: Apparently, Hillary Clinton Lewinsky Viagra William Hung Bush's Pretzel!!!
KEVIN: *laughs hysterically and strums a few nonsensical bass notes*
Re:Oh, I don't mind. (Score:2)
(This is a joke - I have used Gentoo as well, thought mostly Debian and the BSDs, but I have nothing against it).
Re:Why not go after the users? (Score:5, Funny)