• by February 11, 2005

Pfizer, the marketer of Viagra, among other popular drugs, and Microsoft Corp. have filed lawsuits against Web sites and advertisers that sell illegal versions of Viagra. The suits are the result of an investigation to find the identity of two Web site operators that have advertised the illegal versions of Viagra using spam e-mail.

Pfizer filed suit against CanadianPharmacy and E-Pharmacy Direct. Microsoft filed civil actions against the spam advertisers for the Web sites. The software giant also filed three suits against spam advertisers that promote fraudulent versions of Viagra on other online pharmacies under such names as Discount RX, Virtual RX, and EzyDrugStore.com.

Microsoft representatives say that online pharmacy spam rings have allegedly sent hundreds of millions of e-mail messages to Microsoft's MSN Hotmail customers within the past year. Neither Pfizer nor Microsoft know the identity of the spammers, but having filed the lawsuits, they can issue subpoenas to Web hosting services, payment processors, and shippers in attempt to discover them. It's also possible that legitimate businesses are being targeted and taken advantage of by spammers.

Last summer, Pfizer filed suit against 30 Web sites claiming to sell Viagra or generic versions of the drug. There is no legal generic version of Viagra.

Microsoft says its spam filters block 3.2 billion spam messages each day.