CDR: FW: MEDIA: The PSINet Pink Contract
James D. Wilson
netsurf at sersol.com
Tue Nov 7 08:23:00 PST 2000
Another Tier-1 ISP giving spammers guaranteed ability to spam without being
terminated. This time it is PSI...
-----Original Message-----
From: Spam Prevention Discussion List
[mailto:SPAM-L at PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM]On Behalf Of Steve Linford
Sent: Monday, November 06, 2000 11:26 PM
To: SPAM-L at PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM
Subject: MEDIA: The PSINet Pink Contract
Re: CNET Story: PSINet assailed as spam contract surfaces
<http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-3417237.html>
We have had a copy of this second pink contract for a few days but were
unable to prove where it came from and so had not published it. However as
CNET has independently verified its authenticity with both the spam outfit
and PSINet, I'll append the full text of the contract below.
I found the following clauses particularly serious:
Paragraph 2: PSINet acknowledges that this is a contract to allow
"Opt-out commercial email" (i.e: Spam) to be sent "in mass quantity"
by the customer, which PSINet acknowledges is in the spam business.
Clause 2: PSINet agrees that "Opt-out commercial email" (i.e: Spam)
will be sent "in mass quantity" from the customer's PSINet line.
Clause 3: PSINet will pass all spam complaints straight to the spam
outfit. (We know from experience that under these contracts PSINet's
US abuse desk will send a "the matter has been dealt with" autoreply
to Internet users, which will deliberately deceive users that the
spammers
have been terminated. We also know that PSINet's US abuse desk knows
that we know it does this.)
Clause 8: PSINet agrees that the spam outfit will also spamvertize
their web sites.
Clause 9: This is a "danger money" clause in which PSINet wants an
non-refundable up-front payment of $27,000 "for PSINet's increased
risks associated with this Agreement" and states this payment will NOT
be applied towards the customer's fees.
I think the ISP community as a whole needs to reexamine it's ethics. The
contracts we're finding show that far from regulating themselves some US
backbones are colluding with spammers to profit off the spam problem.
Although I can't prove it, I know this same case exists with the Empire
Towers spammers on OarNet and Qwest (ET even tell their customers they
'buy' the providers ethics, purchasing large lines in exchange for the
provider looking the other way). Perhaps even more disturbing for me is
that these contracts can't exist without the collusion of the provider's
abuse desk, as these contracts rely on the abuse desk eating complaints and
fobbing users off.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
[PSINet logo]
Special Addendum to
PSINet Order Form Standard Terms and Conditions
This Addendum reflects agreement by the parties on the following
modifications to the PSINet Order Form Standard Terms and
Conditions (hereinafter the 'Agreement') by and between PSINet
Inc. and Cajunnet, Inc., a Louisiana Corporation ('Customer')
dated of even date herewith. Collectively, Cajunnet and PSINet
are herein referred to as the "Parties". Except as expressly
stated herein, all other aspects of the Agreement shall remain
in full force and effect including capitalized terms which shall
carry the same definitions as specified in the Agreement.
WHEREAS, Cajunnet is in the business of sending opt-in and
opt-out commercial e-mail; commercial email being defined as the
sending of e-mail in mass quantity to notify the recipients of
products and services which are being offered to the public; and
WHEREAS, under a separate agreement, the Parties have agreed and
contracted whereby PSINet will provide Customer a DS-3 trunk
line for the operation of its opt-in and opt-out commercial
e-mail business as a tier one provider; and
WHEREAS, the Parties wish to provide, in this Addendum, an
outline of Cajunnet's use of the DS-3 line in its opt-in and
opt-out commercial e-mail business;
THEREFORE, the Parties agree as follows:
1. Customer will not use the DS-3 line to send any e-mail or
other mass unsolicited electronic mailing which contains
pornography or any other illegal products or services.
2. Customer will send commercial e-mail only to opt in and
opt out lists and will offer to the receiver of such e-mail the
option to be removed from any such list.
Customer shall set up a 24x7 Abuse Team that PSINet can contact
to handle all complaints by any recipients of such e-mail. All
complaints shall be responded to within two hours of receipt in
the same form that PSINet would handle them. Any recipients who
register a complaint regarding the receipt of such e-mail shall
be removed from Customer's e-mail database within twenty-four
(24) hours.All abuse complaints will be answered by an auto
responder with an assigned ticket #. PSINet will be issued a
toll-free 24 hour number they can contact. If any complaints are
received by PSINet, PSINet will forward in its entirety
(unchanged) to Cajunnet's abuse account on a 24 hour service. If
person sends multi complaints, it will be considered as one
complaint.
4. At the request of PSINet, within twenty-four (24) hours,
Customer will provided PSINet with a list and sample of all
commercial e-mails which have been sent by Customer over the
DS-3 line within the most recent fifteen (15) day period.
5. Customer will adhere to any and all federal guidelines and
regulation governing the sending of commercial e-mail as for a
tier one provider.
6. In the event that PSINet proves that Customer is in
default under this or any related agreement between the Parties,
PSINet may terminate Customer's service upon 10 business days
notice if written proof is given. Customer will with all due
diligence try to correct problem within 24 hours. If PSINet
receives any indication that Customer is continuing to violate
PSINet's policy within this ten business day period, PSINet
shall immediately terminate Customer' use of the DS-3 line.
7. Both Parties acknowledge that the corporate representative
signing below is duly authorized to execute this Agreement on
behalf of the respective party.
8. Customer will also host sites that it is advertising for on
the same line.
9. Customer shall provide PSINet with a deposit of Twenty Seven
Thousand dollars ($27,000) upon the execution of the Agreement
to provide for PSINet's increased risks associated with this
Agreement. Customer acknowledges that this is a non-refundable
deposit that shall not be applied towards Customer's monthly
fees.
Customer's acceptance of this Addendum is indicated by signature
below; PSINet's acceptance is indicated by proposal of this
Addendum in its initial format.
Customer: Cajunnet, Inc.
Signature
Name:
Title:
Date
PSINet Inc., 44983 Knoll Square, Ashburn, VA 20147
http://www.psi.net
----------------------------------------------------------------------
--
Steve Linford
The Spamhaus Project
http://www.spamhaus.org
More information about the cypherpunks-legacy
mailing list