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This is the clinton method of ignoring the rulings of the courts on CDA 1 and CDA 2.  DON'T LET THEM GET AWAY WITH IT!  CALL AND/OR WRITE YOUR REPS NOW!

"Administration plans to attack growing Internet fraud"
 6.24 p.m. ET (2325 GMT) March 5, 1999

 By Michael J. Sniffen, Associated Press


 WASHINGTON (AP) � Portraying the Internet as a growing
 playground for criminals, the chief of the Justice Department's
 criminal division said Friday the Clinton administration is
 readying a new program to curb fraud on the Web. 

 "Law enforcement and regulatory authorities have been
 observing significant growth in a variety of fraudulent schemes
 that use the Internet,'' Assistant Attorney General James K.
 Robinson said. "Internet fraud ... is becoming a significant threat
 the tens of millions of people who use the Internet regularly.'' 

 Stock trading by computer, online auctions and direct sales of
 products to businesses and consumers already account for
 billions of dollars in sales each year and may exceed $1 trillion
 early in the 21st Century, Robinson said. 

 "The very factors which make the Internet so attractive as a
 medium for legitimate commerce � communications that are
 global, instantaneous and virtually cost-free; and the ability to
 conduct commercial transactions rapidly at long distances
 without face-to-face interaction � make it equally attractive as
 a medium for fraud,'' he said. 

 As a result, "the administration in the near future will be
 launching a new initiative to address the problem of Internet
 fraud ... through both criminal and civil enforcement,'' he said. 

 The new program, being developed under Vice President Al
 Gore, will "represent the first time the department has made
 Internet fraud a priority,'' Robinson said. 

 Concerned that instances of fraud and abuse may have been
 falling through the cracks, planners of the initiative are
 developing guidelines to increase cooperation between
 regulatory agencies, said an administration official, who
 requested anonymity. 

 If greater coordination produces a sharp increase in cases,
 Justice officials would transfer more manpower into Internet
 fraud prosecutions, another administration official said. 

 Robinson's remarks were prepared for delivery to the American
 Bar Association's National Institute on White-Collar Crime in
 San Francisco. His text was released in Washington. 

 He outlined some of the increasing fraudulent schemes. 

 The Securities and Exchange Commission gets 300 complaints
 a day about online stock-trading schemes, he said. Most
 frequently, they are "pump and dump'' plots to mislead
 investors into putting their money into speculative or shell
 companies. 

 Using multiple e-mail messages or World Wide Web sites with
 false information, shills make it appear that many people in
 different parts of the country are enthusiastic about a stock,
 thereby pumping up its price. Insiders then dump their shares
 at handsome profits, leaving other investors with virtually
 worthless stock. 

 The SEC and Justice Department prosecuted the chief
 executive of one shell company, Systems of Excellence, for price
 manipulation that gained him more than $9.6 million in illegal
 profits, Robinson said. The executive is serving 46 months in
 prison. 

 Robinson said the Federal Trade Commission and the consumer
 group Internet Fraud Watch cite online auctions as the cause of
 more complaints of fraud than any other form of Internet
 commerce. Promoters promising to deliver valuable
 merchandise, including computers or Beanie Babies or Furbys,
 simply fail to deliver the goods or deliver damaged goods after
 the buyer has sent a check or money order. 

 Other criminals acquire the information to establish false
 identities from people who unknowingly entrust personal
 identifying information to others through e-mail. 

 The Internet has expanded the reach of telemarketing fraud
 that used to rely on mailings and telephone calls to promote
 pyramid schemes, phony contests, bogus medical equipment or
 credit repair. 

 Other Web sites offer quick divorces in the Dominican Republic
 for $1,000 to $2,000, without the parties having to go there;
 victims later learn the "divorces'' are not valid, he said. 

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