PSINet, AT&T Caught Pink-Handed Serving Up Spam

An antispam organization in the United Kingdom has uncovered proof that two of the world's largest Internet infrastructure companies, AT&T and PSINet, have signed contracts with companies that send unsolicited commercial e-mail--so-called spammers.

The Spamhaus Project, an organization dedicated to removing spam from the Internet, published on its Web site last week a copy of a "bulk hosting" contract between AT&T and NevadaHosting.com. Under terms of the contract, AT&T acts as a wholesaler of Web hosting space. NevadaHosting resells that space to its customers, who are notorious spammers, according to the Spamhaus Project.

Also, this week, Spamhaus Project obtained a copy of a contract between PSINet and Cajunnet, a marketing company that Spamhaus says also acts as a funnel for unsolicited e-mail. A PSINet official on Tuesday confirmed the existence of the contract, which allows Cajunnet to send unsolicited e-mail messages directly from PSINet's networks, according to Spamhaus.

In each case the service providers claim that the contracts were drawn up in error by junior or inexperienced employees, and they say the contracts were terminated as soon as the nature of the activity was discovered. PSINet points to the difficulties of policing spammers on its networks, which it says often employ deceitful tactics to go undetected.

Antispam groups have long suspected the existence of these contracts, which they term "pink contracts." Broadly speaking, they include language that expressly permits a spammer to distribute unsolicited e-mail from an Internet service provider's network.

AT&T Blames Sales Rep

In AT&T's case, the unsolicited e-mail promotes a site hosted on the AT&T network by NevadaHosting, while the actual spam messages were sent to users via a third party e-mail service. In the contract, which was signed in February this year, AT&T states clearly that NevadaHosting will host Web sites that will be advertised in spam sent from gateways other than that of NevadaHosting itself.

"This proves that AT&T knowingly does business with spammers. They made this contract to bypass AT&T's antispam policy," Steve Linford, project manager for the Spamhaus Project, said in an interview Friday with IDG News Service. "AT&T was basically saying it will allow spam and neglect any complaints."

In its antispam policy, AT&T clearly states that "spam is an unacceptable use of the AT&T IP Network."

AT&T canceled its contract with NevadaHosting.com in August, Linford said. "From February to August, sites hosted by NevadaHosting were spamming, and a few thousand complaints were filed with AT&T."

AT&T spokesperson Bill Hoffman confirms the authenticity of the contract with NevadaHosting but calls it "invalid."

"That document represents an unauthorized revision to AT&T's standard contract and is in direct conflict with AT&T's antispamming policies," Hoffman says. "The contract was prepared by a sales representative without prior authorization."