FTC suspends major adult hosting, many sites may be down (especially operated by rus)

[signbucks]

Since 12AM CET major hosting company 3FN experiences downtime. Many webmasters and programs (especially russian ones) got in trouble with their sites. 3FN is one of the most popular hosting companies in russian adult webmaster community.

As 3FN owner said: 'The problem is caused by decission of FTC, which suspended access to our network and phusically to all our equipment. Right now we are working with layers on resolving this issue. We can't switch main and back up routers on because we don't have access to them. At the beginning it was just a technical problem with network deny, but in 20 min the power was turned off. It seems like FTC has claims to some hosted sites and their content'.

Owner also says that the situation is very hard because of complicated system of US law, but they are working to solve it.

SBD Information. In 2008 two other major hosting companies EstHosts and McColo were closed by authrorities. EstDomains, EstHost daughter company, became the first registrar after FlyDomains, which license was canceled by ICANN. All domains were moved to ResellerClub, though many of them were suspended. There were rumors that in both cases it happened because of supporting spammers, illegal pharma and malware sites.

http://www.signbucksdaily.com/news/view/id/149/

[dirtymind]

that really sucks for them. i think its strange they close down everything and not just those servers that host the sites they have claims against.

[grumpy]

lots of scammers came from that network

[nation-x]

Good riddance to bad garbage

[Manowar]

They'll find new hosting soon.

[nation-x]

They'll find new hosting soon.

unfortunately :P

[signbucks]

UPDATE. Botmaster, the biggest web spam solution (so called Hrummer), was also hosted by 3FN and is currently down.
Maybe that's a good news )

[FrozenJag]

I wondered why I hadnt been recieving nearly as much spam here last day or two.

[seeandsee]

hmm way?

[Pleasurepays]

haha... i like the presumption of innocence of a Russian hosting company. i'm sure the FTC has nothing better to do that to spin the wheel and choose a hosting company at random to try to shut down.

[Supz]

that really sucks for them. i think its strange they close down everything and not just those servers that host the sites they have claims against.

It is probably because they feel the host knows they are there, but do nothing about it. It is basically harboring a criminal.

[pornguy]

I have been getting the same amount of spam, if not more.

[sortie]

It is probably because they feel the host knows they are there, but do nothing about it. It is basically harboring a criminal.

Exactly.

It would seem they would have gotten some email complaints about certain domains.

[TheSenator]

What major site have been effect?

[SilentKnight]

Next they'll herd all the Ruskie adult webmasters into an abandoned school and gas'em.

[signbucks]

What major site have been effect?

don't know exactly, but many russian webmasters are scared to death

e.g. ferrocash admin isn't available because of that. they aren't small program

now many ppl got some info about 3FN they didn't expect to hear. in russian adult community it was an honest company, but as we see there was some shit hosted by them

[Agent 488]

read they shut down their servers by electromagnetic pulse weapons.

[CIVMatt]

That's GREAT news

[Sosa]

crazy russians!

[TheDoc]

Wow, what a display of power the FTC has...

[TheSenator]

don't know exactly, but many russian webmasters are scared to death

e.g. ferrocash admin isn't available because of that. they aren't small program

now many ppl got some info about 3FN they didn't expect to hear. in russian adult community it was an honest company, but as we see there was some shit hosted by them

Still haven't found any major adult sites that are effected.

[NinjaSteve]

Next they'll herd all the Ruskie adult webmasters into an abandoned school and gas'em.

Whoa, those are some harsh words

[signbucks]

Still haven't found any major adult sites that are effected.

there're few more programs like buckmatrix, pornocruto, etc. you'll find them all here: http://www.signbucksdaily.com/marketing/down/ (right now those with 20h down)

there're many big blogdirs, cj, tgp and different se sites down because of that. not the biggest ones, but still not little

[HomerSimpson]

really good news!

[xxxdesign-net]

Is that a precedent? did that ever happen before?

[Due]

Wow, what a display of power the FTC has...

Crazy.

So far a couple of CJ sites and 1 or more affiliate program seems to be down, spamarrest report my spam mails as being around the same level (3500-4000 mails / day )

Is it power or stupidity ?

Hope everybody with legit sites will get back online soon

[signbucks]

that's from FDC site
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/06/3fn.shtm

FTC Shuts Down Notorious Rogue Internet Service Provider, 3FN Service Specializes in Hosting Spam-Spewing Botnets, Phishing Web sites, Child Pornography, and Other Illegal, Malicious Web Content

A rogue Internet Service Provider that recruits, knowingly hosts, and actively participates in the distribution of spam, child pornography, and other harmful electronic content has been shut down by a district court judge at the request of the Federal Trade Commission. The ISP’s upstream providers and data centers have disconnected its servers from the Internet.

According to the FTC, the defendant, Pricewert LLC, which does business under a variety of names including 3FN and APS Telecom, actively recruits and colludes with criminals seeking to distribute illegal, malicious, and harmful electronic content including child pornography, spyware, viruses, trojan horses, phishing, botnet command and control servers, and pornography featuring violence, bestiality, and incest. The FTC alleges that the defendant advertised its services in the darkest corners of the Internet, including a forum established to facilitate communication between criminals.

The complaint alleges that Pricewert actively shielded its criminal clientele by either ignoring take-down requests issued by the online security community, or shifting its criminal elements to other Internet protocol addresses it controlled to evade detection.

The FTC also alleges that the defendant engaged in the deployment and operation of botnets – large networks of computers that have been compromised and enslaved by the originator of the botnet, known as a “bot herder.” Botnets can be used for a variety of illicit purposes, including sending spam and launching denial of service attacks. According to the FTC, the defendant recruited bot herders and hosted the command-and-control servers – the computers that relay commands from the bot herders to the compromised computers known as “zombie drones.” Transcripts of instant-message logs filed with the district court show the defendants’ senior employees discussing the configuration of botnets with bot herders. And, in filings with the district court, the FTC alleges that more than 4,500 malicious software programs are controlled by command-and-control servers hosted by 3FN. This malware includes programs capable of keystroke logging, password stealing, and data stealing, programs with hidden backdoor remote control activity, and programs involved in spam distribution.

The FTC charged that the defendants’ distribution of illegal, malicious, and harmful content and deployment of botnets that compromised thousands of computers caused substantial consumer injury and was an unfair practice, in violation of federal law.

The court issued a temporary restraining order to prohibit Pricewert’s illegal activities and require its upstream Internet providers and data centers to cease providing services to Pricewert. The order also freezes Pricewert’s assets. The court will hold a preliminary injunction hearing on June 15, 2009.

This case was brought with the invaluable assistance of NASA’s Office of Inspector General, Computer Crime Division; Gary Warner, Director of Research in Computer Forensics, University of Alabama at Birmingham; The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children; The Shadowserver Foundation; Symantec Corporation; and The Spamhaus Project.

The Commission vote to authorize staff to file the complaint was 4-0. The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Jose Division.

NOTE: The Commission files a complaint when it has “reason to believe” that the law has been or is being violated, and it appears to the Commission that a proceeding is in the public interest. The complaint is not a finding or ruling that the defendant has actually violated the law. The case will be decided by the court.

The Federal Trade Commission works for consumers to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices and to provide information to help spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint in English or Spanish, visit the FTC’s online Complaint Assistant or call 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357). The FTC enters complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to more than 1,500 civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad. The FTC’s Web site provides free information on a variety of consumer topics.

[pocketkangaroo]

Long overdue if you knew what these guys were hosting.

[Peter Romero]

Thanks for choosing webair...

[Drake]

See ya...

[SomeCreep]

Since 12AM CET major hosting company 3FN experiences downtime. Many webmasters and programs (especially russian ones) got in trouble with their sites. 3FN is one of the most popular hosting companies in russian adult webmaster community.

Nothing good has ever come out of russia.

[kmanrox]

why is daizzy's russian slandering ass allowed back?

[WarChild]

Signbucks is obviously Daizzy, a cry baby emo fag that was banned already.

[topnotch, standup guy]

Next they'll herd all the Ruskie adult webmasters into an abandoned school and gas'em.

That's a little harsh don't you think?

Now... if we're talking about illegal tube site owners or idiots who post "adapt or die" on adult forums then, yeah, I'm down

[JD]

thank the jesus

[woj]

that's from FDC site
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/06/3fn.shtm

FTC Shuts Down Notorious Rogue Internet Service Provider, 3FN Service Specializes in Hosting Spam-Spewing Botnets, Phishing Web sites, Child Pornography, and Other Illegal, Malicious Web Content

A rogue Internet Service Provider that recruits, knowingly hosts, and actively participates in the distribution of spam, child pornography, and other harmful electronic content has been shut down by a district court judge at the request of the Federal Trade Commission. The ISP?s upstream providers and data centers have disconnected its servers from the Internet.

According to the FTC, the defendant, Pricewert LLC, which does business under a variety of names including 3FN and APS Telecom, actively recruits and colludes with criminals seeking to distribute illegal, malicious, and harmful electronic content including child pornography, spyware, viruses, trojan horses, phishing, botnet command and control servers, and pornography featuring violence, bestiality, and incest. The FTC alleges that the defendant advertised its services in the darkest corners of the Internet, including a forum established to facilitate communication between criminals.

The complaint alleges that Pricewert actively shielded its criminal clientele by either ignoring take-down requests issued by the online security community, or shifting its criminal elements to other Internet protocol addresses it controlled to evade detection.

The FTC also alleges that the defendant engaged in the deployment and operation of botnets ? large networks of computers that have been compromised and enslaved by the originator of the botnet, known as a ?bot herder.? Botnets can be used for a variety of illicit purposes, including sending spam and launching denial of service attacks. According to the FTC, the defendant recruited bot herders and hosted the command-and-control servers ? the computers that relay commands from the bot herders to the compromised computers known as ?zombie drones.? Transcripts of instant-message logs filed with the district court show the defendants? senior employees discussing the configuration of botnets with bot herders. And, in filings with the district court, the FTC alleges that more than 4,500 malicious software programs are controlled by command-and-control servers hosted by 3FN. This malware includes programs capable of keystroke logging, password stealing, and data stealing, programs with hidden backdoor remote control activity, and programs involved in spam distribution.

The FTC charged that the defendants? distribution of illegal, malicious, and harmful content and deployment of botnets that compromised thousands of computers caused substantial consumer injury and was an unfair practice, in violation of federal law.

The court issued a temporary restraining order to prohibit Pricewert?s illegal activities and require its upstream Internet providers and data centers to cease providing services to Pricewert. The order also freezes Pricewert?s assets. The court will hold a preliminary injunction hearing on June 15, 2009.

This case was brought with the invaluable assistance of NASA?s Office of Inspector General, Computer Crime Division; Gary Warner, Director of Research in Computer Forensics, University of Alabama at Birmingham; The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children; The Shadowserver Foundation; Symantec Corporation; and The Spamhaus Project.

The Commission vote to authorize staff to file the complaint was 4-0. The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Jose Division.

NOTE: The Commission files a complaint when it has ?reason to believe? that the law has been or is being violated, and it appears to the Commission that a proceeding is in the public interest. The complaint is not a finding or ruling that the defendant has actually violated the law. The case will be decided by the court.

The Federal Trade Commission works for consumers to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices and to provide information to help spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint in English or Spanish, visit the FTC?s online Complaint Assistant or call 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357). The FTC enters complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to more than 1,500 civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad. The FTC?s Web site provides free information on a variety of consumer topics.

daaamn.... that's some hardcore stuff, sucks to be them for sure...

[Barefootsies]

Good riddance to bad garbage

[crockett]

don't know exactly, but many russian webmasters are scared to death

e.g. ferrocash admin isn't available because of that. they aren't small program

now many ppl got some info about 3FN they didn't expect to hear. in russian adult community it was an honest company, but as we see there was some shit hosted by them

Sorry but the words Russian company and Honest don't really belong in the same sentence. While I do know there are some legit Russian webmasters whom are good guys and honest I salute them, but 99% are scammers unfortunately.

I just wonder how the US FTC was able to shut down a Russian web host seems rather odd. That's assuming the servers were in Russia and not the US.

[Mr.Right - Banned For Life]

I just wonder how the US FTC was able to shut down a Russian web host seems rather odd. That's assuming the servers were in Russia and not the US.

thier datacenter was in california

[DynamiteJohnson]

as cash gets tighter more people will start reporting criminals for the reward and-or fun of it
karma will have its day

[sortie]

Internet law enforcement is on a "learning curve".
The curve is getting shorter as we speak.

They(law) will eventually get there and snag the fools that thought it would never happen.

Good!

[StarkReality]

Long overdue if you knew what these guys were hosting.

Absolutely true, it's not like they hosted a few bad apples, they hosted all the illegal, disgusting or at least questionable stuff no other host would have touched.

No loss, no problem, the honest customers will quickly find a new host. If you run a site or site network that uses legal content and no questionable material, every host will happily restore your backups for you and you are in business again.

[signbucks]

Absolutely true, it's not like they hosted a few bad apples, they hosted all the illegal, disgusting or at least questionable stuff no other host would have touched.

No loss, no problem, the honest customers will quickly find a new host. If you run a site or site network that uses legal content and no questionable material, every host will happily restore your backups for you and you are in business again.

yeah, i'm about the same point, but many honest webmasters relied them their sites ((

[signbucks]

all 3FN customers won't be able to reach their backups for at least the next 2 weeks. some many businesses will be gone

[webair]

not good but good for the internet IMHO