US software giant Microsoft has sued a group of 'spammers' it accuses of sending unsolicited e-mails promoting pornography to millions of its customers.
The company filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles on Friday seeking financial damages from an unidentified
number of spammers, who were not named in the suit.
The suit alleges that spam e-mail, or unsolicited commercial mail aimed at pointing Microsoft customers towards porn sites, 'places a tremendous burden on Microsoft'.
The company provides free and subscription-based e-mail service through its MSN Hotmail and MSN Internet Access services.
The suit stated that many of the spam messages were sent by defendants using Hotmail accounts even though sending such messages was forbidden by company policy.
While the names of the spammers remain unknown, the software group filed suit in Los Angeles because it believes the e-mail hijackers regularly transact business in the area around the second largest US city.
The company claimed it has spent time and money developing technology to prevent its subscribers from sending or receiving spam, but that spammers continue to alter their methods.
Microsoft is asking that a judge bar the defendants from establishing accounts with its e-mail services and order them to stop violating Microsoft's policy and state and federal law.
