Focus On: Scams

Jayson Harris was the irritant that helped mold the legal approach now commonly used by Microsoft's crack Internet Safety Enforcement Team. In fact, he's logged two firsts: The Harris case is the first civil case filed by Microsoft related to phishing, and the biggest phishing case in Iowa's history. Microsoft actually calls him the "MSN Billing Phisher." So why the short sentence and puny fine?

Every day, it seems, some security company or industry anti-phishing coalition is grinding out a press release either extolling the virtues of its solution, or gloomily predicting the demise of Western civilization... or at least the Internet... due to phishing. But while experts cluck about phishing, users are still more concerned over a spam problem that is either too hot, too cold, or just about right. Depends on how you look at it.

Wresting US$90 million from Google's steely grip took Dallas attorney Joel Fineberg little more than twelve months. The Texas lawyer obviously chose the right target, as Google's AdWords has been broadly reported as easy prey for pay-per-click fraud. After reading the terms of the settlement, some are left wondering if it accomplished anything at all, beyond enriching a few and limiting Google's future liabilities.