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Computer underground Digest Wed Oct 22, 1997 Volume 9 : Issue 76
ISSN 1004-042X
Editor: Jim Thomas (cudigest@sun.soci.niu.edu)
News Editor: Gordon Meyer (gmeyer@sun.soci.niu.edu)
Archivist: Brendan Kehoe
Shadow Master: Stanton McCandlish
Shadow-Archivists: Dan Carosone / Paul Southworth
Ralph Sims / Jyrki Kuoppala
Ian Dickinson
Field Agent Extraordinaire: David Smith
Cu Digest Homepage: http://www.soci.niu.edu/~cudigest
CONTENTS, #9.76 (Wed, Oct 22, 1997)
File 1--AOL Class Action Suit Deadlines Extended
File 2--Hoaxer (and a poor one) targets AOL
File 3--AOL Says E-Mail Scare is a Hoax
File 4--Cu Digest Header Info (unchanged since 7 May, 1997)
CuD ADMINISTRATIVE, EDITORIAL, AND SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION APPEARS IN
THE CONCLUDING FILE AT THE END OF EACH ISSUE.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun, 26 Oct 97 12:02 CST
From: Jim Thomas (tk0jut1@mvs.cso.niu.edu)
Subject: File 1--AOL Class Action Suit Deadlines Extended
((The following was posted by AOL to AOL subscribers last week.
It was up for a very short time, so many may have missed it--jt)).
---------------
PLEASE NOTE: The deadlines have been extended as follows:.
December 1 for filing claims, and November 15 for filing
objections and exclusion requests. There have been other
modifications and you should read the Updated Settlement Notice
The following message to AOL members is in regard to the
settlement of a Class Action Suit in the Circuit Court of Cook
County, Illinois. You may print this notice by clicking the
Print button below. To save the notice to a file, click on Save.
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS
COUNTY DEPARTMENT, CHANCERY DIVISION
STEVEN F. SCHWAB, individually
and on behalf of all other persons
similarly situated,
Plaintiff,
No. 96 CH 13732
v.
Hon. Stephen A. S
chiller
AMERICA ONLINE, INC.,
a Delaware corporation,
Defendant.
NOTICE OF PROPOSED SETTLEMENT OF
CLASS ACTION AND HEARING THEREON
TO: ALL AMERICA ONLINE SUBSCRIBERS THROUGHOUT THE UNITED
STATES WHO WERE SUBSCRIBERS TO AMERICA ONLINE ON
DECEMBER 1, 1996 OR WHO BECAME SUBSCRIBERS ON SAID
DATE OR THEREAFTER
IMPORTANT
PLEASE READ THIS NOTICE CAREFULLY. THIS NOTICE RELATES TO THE
PROPOSED SETTLEM ENT OF THIS CLASS ACTION, THE SETTLEMENT FAIRNESS
HEARING AND YOUR RIGHTS WITH RESPECT THERETO, INCLUDING YOUR RIGHT TO
SHARE IN THE BENEFITS OF THE SETTLEMEN T, TO EXCLUDE YOURSELF FROM THE
CLASS OR TO OBJECT TO THE SETTLEMENT.
Pursuant to an Order of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Chancery
Division ("t he Court") dated May 1, 1997, YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED:
I.
DEFINITION OF THE CLASS AND PRIOR NOTICE
By Orders dated January 30, 1997, and January 31, 1997, the Court
certified thi s action (the "Action") as a class action on behalf of a
nationwide class (the "Class") consisting of:
All AOL subscribers throughout the United States who were subscribers
to AOL on December 1, 1996 or who became subscribers on said date or
thereafter.
If you are or were a subscriber to America Online, Inc. ("AOL") at any
time fro m December 1, 1996 to the present, you are a member of the
Class. Your rights to participate in the settlement, object to the
settlement, or exclude yourself from the Class are described in this
Notice.
Pursuant to prior Orders of the Court, the Class was provided notice
dated Febr uary 25, 1997 of: the pendency of this Action; a
description of the claims asse rted in the Action; the Assurance of
Voluntary Compliance ("Assurance") reached between AOL and 45 state
Attorneys General; and your right as a Class member t o remain in the
Class or exclude yourself from the Class (the "Notice of Penden cy").
This Notice is not intended to be, and should not be construed as, an
expression of any opinion by the Court with respect to the truth of
the allegations in t he Action or the merits of the claims or defenses
asserted. This Notice is sen t to advise you of the proposed
settlement of this Action and of your rights wi th respect to this
Action and the proposed settlement.
II.
THE ACTION
The Action was commenced on December 18, 1996, when Plaintiff Steven
F. Schwab (the "Class Representative") filed a class action complaint
("Complaint"). The Complaint alleges that AOL, which owns and
operates the computer online servic e "America Online," breached its
subscription agreements with its customers, an d violated state
consumer protection and deceptive trade practice laws, by falsely
advertising and agreeing to provide unlimited access to AOL'S online
servic e for a flat rate.
The Complaint alleges that in late 1996 AOL promised existing and
prospective c ustomers "unlimited access" to America Online for a
fixed rate of $19.95 a mont h (or less for one and two year prepaid
subscriptions). It is alleged that AOL offered and advertised its
"unlimited access" plan with knowledge that (1) sub scribers would
spend considerably more time online, (2) AOL's number of subscri bers
would increase dramatically, and (3) AOL did not have the capacity
necessa ry to meet the increased demand for online time.
As a result, it is alleged that Class members have experienced long
delays in c onnecting to America Online, have been unable to connect
to America Online, and , once connected, have been disconnected. The
Complaint alleges that, as a res ult, AOL has failed to deliver the
unlimited online access it promised.
AOL denies that it has breached any agreement or otherwise violated
any state o r federal law in connection with the foregoing and denies
that any Class member is entitled to recover any damages.
III.
THE SETTLEMENT FAIRNESS HEARING
The Class Representative and Class Counsel have reached a proposed
settlement w ith AOL (the "Settlement"). The terms of the Settlement
are set forth in detai l in the parties' Memorandum of Understanding
("MOU"), which has been filed wit h the Court and is available to the
public to review during regular business ho urs at the office of the
Clerk of the Circuit Court, Richard J. Daley Building, Room 802, 50 W.
Washington, Chicago, Illinois, 60602. The Court has prelimina rily
approved the Settlement as fair, reasonable and adequate and has
directed that this Notice be provided to Class members.
The Court has rescheduled the hearing before the Honorable Stephen A.
Schiller from October 8, 1997 to November 20, 1997 at 2:00 p.m. at the
Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, Richard J. Daley Center,
Courtroom 2402, 50 W. Washingto n Street, Chicago, Illinois, to
consider whether the Settlement should be final ly approved as fair,
reasonable and adequate, to hear all objections to the Set tlement,
and to consider Class Counsel's request for attorneys fees and reimbur
sement of costs (the "Settlement Fairness Hearing").
Class members who do not request exclusion (as described in paragraph
VI(B) bel ow) have the right to participate, either in person or
through counsel retained by them, in the Settlement Fairness Hearing.
Attendance at the Settlement Fai rness Hearing is not necessary;
however, persons who wish to comment orally on the proposed Settlement
must state in writing their intention to appear at the Settlement
Fairness Hearing and the nature of their proposed comment, and must
serve that document in the time and manner prescribed for written
objections in paragraph VI(C) below.
The Court may continue or adjourn the Settlement Fairness Hearing
without further notice to the Class.
IV.
THE PROPOSED SETTLEMENT
UNDER THE TERMS OF THE SETTLEMENT OF THIS ACTION, CLASS MEMBERS HAVE
THE RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE BOTH UNDER THE ASSURANCE WITH THE ATTORNEYS
GENERAL AND THE EXTE NDED AND ADDITIONAL BENEFITS OF THE SETTLEMENT.
CLAIMS MUST BE MADE SEPARATELY FOR EACH (I.E., ONE CLAIM AS DESCRIBED
IN PARAGRAPH A, AND ONE CLAIM AS DESCRI BED IN PARAGRAPH B). ALSO,
UNDER THE SETTLEMENT, THE TIME PERIOD TO SUBMIT A R EQUEST FOR A
REFUND OR CREDIT PURSUANT TO THE ASSURANCE WITH THE ATTORNEYS GENE RAL
HAS BEEN EXTENDED TO December 1, 1997; HOWEVER, IF YOU EXCLUDE
YOURSELF FRO M THE SETTLEMENT, YOU WILL ONLY HAVE UNTIL JUNE 4, 1997
TO SUBMIT SAID REQUEST.
IF YOU HAVE ALREADY MADE A CLAIM FOR DECEMBER, 1996 OR JANUARY, 1997
(UNDER T HE ASSURANCE), YOU SHOULD NOT MAKE ANOTHER CLAIM FOR THOSE
MONTHS - SEE PARAGRA PH A(3) BELOW.
The Settlement provides as follows:
A. The Assurance of Voluntary Compliance With The Attorneys
General (ap plies to usage during the months of December 1996 and
January 1997)
On February 4, 1997, AOL entered into an Assurance of Voluntary
Compliance ("As surance") with the Attorneys General or other
officials of 45 states. The Assu rance provides certain refunds,
credits and other relief to AOL subscribers for the months of
December, 1996 and/or January, 1997. In order to receive a refu nd or
credit under the Assurance, qualified subscribers must make a
complaint a bout access either to AOL or to the subscribers state
Attorney General.
AOL former and current members may claim a credit or refund under the
Assurance with the Attorneys General under this Settlement. Under the
terms of this Set tlement, the time period in which to submit a claim
under the Assurance has bee n extended to December 1, 1997 for persons
who do not request to be excluded fr om this Class.
For the months of December 1996 and January 1997, you may choose to
receive a r efund or credit, at your option, depending on the number
of hours you actually used AOL's service during each of those months
(see paragraph 1 below) or, alte rnatively, you may choose to receive
a credit of one month's membership fee (se e paragraph 2 below). You
are not eligible to receive a refund or credit for a ny billing period
in which your fee was waived pursuant to a free trial offer o r other
free offer by AOL.
1. First Option: Refund Or Credit
Based On Your Actual Usage
Paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) below set forth the refund or credit to
which you a re entitled, depending on your membership plan, if you
choose to claim a refund or credit, at your option, based on your
actual usage of AOL's service during the months of December, 1996 and
January, 1997.
a. Members Under The $19.95 Monthly or Prepaid Term Plans
For December, 1996 and January, 1997: (i) you are entitled to a
refund or cred it, at your option, of 100% of the monthly fee for each
month in which you used AOL's service less than two (2) hours; (ii)
you are entitled to a refund or cr edit, at your option, of 50% of the
monthly fee for each month in which you use d the service for two (2)
hours or more and less than eight (8) hours; (iii) yo u are entitled
to a refund or credit of 25% of the monthly fee for each month i n
which you used the service for eight (8) hours or more and less than
fifteen (15) hours.
In addition to any refund or credit that may be available to you under
this par agraph (a), if you are a subscriber on a prepaid term plan,
you can cancel your term account and receive a refund for the unused
portion. The amount of this refund will be the total amount paid for
the term less the charge for any month s of service, or portions
thereof, already used. The refund will be calculated using the
undiscounted monthly rate.
b. Members Under The $9.95 Metered Access Plan
For December, 1996 and January, 1997: (i) you are entitled to a
refund or cred it, at your option, of 100% of the monthly fee for each
month in which you used AOL's service less than one (1) hour; (ii) you
are entitled to a refund or cre dit, at your option, of 50% of the
monthly fee for each month in which you used the service for one (1)
hour or more and less than three (3) hours.
c. Members Under the $4.95 Metered Access Plan
For December, 1996 and January, 1997: (i) you are entitled to a
refund or cred it, at your option, of 100% of the monthly fee for each
month in which you used AOL's service less than one (1) hour; (ii) you
are entitled to a refund or cre dit, at your option, of 50% of the
monthly fee for each month in which you used the service for one (1)
hour or more and less than two (2) hours.
2. Second Option: One-Month Credit
For December, 1996 and January, 1997: As an alternative to the
refunds and/or credits available under paragraph 1 above, you may, if
you remain a subscriber to AOL's service, instead choose to receive a
one month credit equal to your o ne-month membership fee, without
regard to the number of hours you actually use d AOL's service during
December, 1996 and January, 1997.
3. If you have already made a claim for a refund or
credit under the AVC for December, 1996 and/or January, 1997, you
should not make a new cla im for those months under this Settlement.
If you have not made such a claim y et, you are entitled to make the
claim under this Settlement by sending a lette r or postcard by mail,
as described in paragraph V(A) below, postmarked by Dece mber 1, 1997.
B. The Extended and Additional Benefits of the Settlement
(applies to u sage during either February, 1997 or March, 1997)
1. Class members under the $19.95 monthly or prepaid term
plans a re entitled to an additional refund or credit, in connection
with the month of February, 1997 or March, 1997, but not both, if in
either month they used the s ervice for two (2) hours or more and less
than fifteen (15) hours and represent in their written claim that they
"subscribed to AOL's unlimited access plan an d did not receive the
amount of access promised, represented or expected" durin g the month
for which the claim is being made.
a. If, during either February, 1997, or March, 1997, you used
the AOL's service for two (2) hours or more and less than eight (8)
hours you will recei ve a refund or credit of 50% of the monthly fee
for one month. If you used the service for eight (8) hours or more
and less than fifteen (15) hours during ei ther February or March,
1997, you will receive a refund or credit of 25% of the monthly fee
for one month.
b. If you have the $19.95 monthly or a prepaid term plan and
you used A OL's service for fifteen (15) hours or more in February,
1997 and in March 1997 , and provided that you are and remain a
subscriber of AOL throughout the period from February 4, 1997 through
and including June 1, 1997 you are entitled to a one month credit of
the monthly fee.
2. To receive the additional refund or credit described
in paragr aphs (a) or (b) above for the month of February, 1997 or
March, 1997, you must send a letter or postcard requesting the refund
or credit, postmarked no later than December 1, 1997, as described in
paragraph V(B) below.
C. NOTE -- CLAIMS UNDER PARAGRAPH B ABOVE ARE SEPARATE FROM AND IN
ADDITION TO ANY CLAIM YOU MAY MAKE UNDER PARAGRAPH A ABOVE. IN ORDER
TO OBTAIN CREDITS OR REFUNDS UNDER BOTH PARAGRAPHS A AND B (IF
ELIGIBLE), YOU MUST SUBMIT TWO CLAIM S -- ONE UNDER PARAGRAPH A AND A
SECOND UNDER PARAGRAPH B. FOR INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO MAKE EACH OF
THESE CLAIMS, SEE SECTION V BELOW.
D. Class members eligible for refunds or credits under
paragraph B abov e who are no longer AOL subscribers will receive a
refund. Class members who a re current AOL subscribers will receive a
credit. You are not eligible to rece ive a refund or credit under
either paragraph A or B for any billing period in which your fee was
waived pursuant to a free trial offer or other free offer by AOL.
E. Release of Claims Against AOL
AS SET FORTH BELOW, THE RELEASE TO BE GIVEN TO AOL IN THE SETTLEMENT
WILL RELE ASE CLAIMS UNDER FEDERAL AND STATE LAW WHICH YOU MAY HAVE
AGAINST AOL. YOU SHO ULD CAREFULLY CONSIDER WHETHER YOU WISH TO REMAIN
A MEMBER OF THE CLASS AND SH ARE IN THE SETTLEMENT, OR WHETHER YOU
SHOULD EXCLUDE YOURSELF FROM THE CLASS U NDER SECTION VI(B) BELOW.
Upon Court approval of the Settlement becoming final, the Class
members and the ir respective agents, successors, heirs, or assigns
shall be deemed to have, an d by operation of the Final Judgment and
Order of Dismissal ("Final Judgment") in the Schwab Action, shall have
fully, finally, and forever released, relinqui shed and discharged all
Released Claims against the Released Parties. "Released Claims" means
any and all claims, rights (including rights to reimbursement, r
estitution, or damages), demands, actions, causes of actions, suits,
matters, i ssues, debts, liens, liabilities, costs, expenses, damages
or losses of any nat ure, whether under Federal laws or regulations or
the laws, common law or regul ations of any State or subdivision,
arising from a Class Member's difficulty in accessing or using,
difficulty in attemtping to access or use, and/or inabilit y to access
or use AOL's online service from December 1, 1996 through and inclu
ding November 15, 1997, because of the AOL system's alleged inability
to handle the demand for AOL's online service. Released Claims shall
not include claims arising from an AOL subscriber allegedly not
knowing the cost of the telephone connection that the subscriber was
incurring in accessing and using the AOL ser vice or that there would
be a cost for the telephone connection. "Released Part ies" means AOL
and each of AOL's past or present officers, directors, agents, e
mployees and their predecessors, successors, parents, subsidiaries,
affiliates, agents, attorneys, accountants, and advisors.
Other actions, including other class actions, have been brought by
other plaint iffs alleging claims on behalf of subscribers of AOL. To
the extent that such o ther plaintiffs are members of the Class
defined herein, and such persons do no t validly exclude themselves
from the Class, the Settlement and the release to be given under the
Settlement will preclude those persons from continuing to pu rsue
those other actions against AOL and the Released Parties.
F. Attorneys' Fees and Expenses
More than 50 counsel in 40 lawsuits coordinated their efforts to
prosecute an d resolve the Action on behalf of the Class. Under the
Settlement, AOL has ag reed to pay attorneys fees to counsel for the
Class and to reimburse the out-o f-pocket costs to counsel for the
Class, each in the amount approved by the Co urt. Counsel for the
Class have agreed to limit their request for attorneys f ees and costs
to a total of three million dollars. The payment of fees and co sts
by AOL is in addition to the refunds and credits to be paid to the
Class a nd will not affect such payments. Counsel for the Class have
prosecuted this Action on a contingent basis and have not received any
payment of fees, or any reimbursement of their out-of-pocket costs.
V.
HOW TO MAKE YOUR CLAIMS
If eligible, you may claim as described in both subsections A and B
below, but you must submit separate claims and include the information
requested.
A. To make a claim under paragraph IV(A) above (for the months
of Decemb er 1996 and January 1997):
1. Send a letter or postcard, postmarked on or before December
1, 1997, to:
AOL Subscriber Claims I
P.O. Box 511
Ogden, Utah 84402
2. State in your letter or postcard that you were a
subscriber of AOL during the month(s) of December, 1996 and (or)
January, 1997 and that you wish to receive a refund (or credit) for
those (that) month(s); and provide
(a) your name, address, telephone number and "master screenname".
Your ma ster screenname is the name you chose when you first
registered with AOL.
(b) your signature.
3. For subscribers on the prepaid term accounts only: If
you wish to cancel your prepaid term account, state in your letter or
postcard "I subsc ribed to AOL's prepaid term plan and wish to cancel
this account" and provide:
(a) your name, address, telephone number and "master screenname".
(b) your signature.
B. To make a claim under paragraph IV(B) above (for the month
of Februa ry, 1997 or March, 1997):
1. Send a letter or postcard, postmarked on or before December
1, 1997, to:
AOL Subscriber Claims II
P.O. Box 471
Ogden, Utah 84402
2. State or provide in your letter or postcard:
(a) The month (February, 1997 or March, 1997) for which you wish
to recei ve a refund or credit;
(b) that you were a subscriber of AOL during that month and that
you wish to receive the applicable refund (or credit) for that month;
(c) That you "did not receive the access promised, represented or
expecte d" during that month;
(d) your name, address, telephone number and "master screenname".
(e) your signature.
C. NOTE -- CLAIMS UNDER PARAGRAPH IV(A) ABOVE ARE SEPARATE FROM
AND IN ADDITION TO ANY CLAIM YOU MAY MAKE UNDER PARAGRAPH IV(B) ABOVE.
IN ORDER TO OB TAIN CREDITS OR REFUNDS UNDER BOTH PARAGRAPHS (IF
ELIGIBLE), YOU MUST SUBMIT TW O CLAIMS -- ONE AS DESCRIBED IN
PARAGRAPH A ABOVE AND A SECOND AS DESCRIBED IN PARAGRAPH B ABOVE.
D. If you still have questions concerning how to make a claim,
you can call 1-800-471-6148 to listen to a pre-recorded message
summarizing the procedu res.
VI.
THE RIGHTS OF CLASS MEMBERS IN CONNECTION WITH THE SETTLEMENT
You have the following options:
A. You may remain a member of the Class.
1. To remain a member of the Class, you do not have to
take any a ction. As a member of the Class, you may share in the
Settlement (if approved by the Court), and you will be barred from
prosecuting your own claim. You wi ll automatically be considered a
member of the Class, unless you formally reque st exclusion in
accordance with the procedure set forth below. AS A CLASS MEMB ER, IN
ORDER TO SHARE IN THE SETTLEMENT, YOU MUST FOLLOW THE CLAIMS PROCEDURE
P REVIOUSLY DESCRIBED IN THIS NOTICE.
2. If you remain a member of the Class, you will be
represented b y Class Counsel who have been appointed by the Court,
unless you enter an appea rance through counsel of your own choice at
your own expense. You are not requ ired to obtain your own counsel,
but if you choose to do so, your counsel must file an appearance on
your behalf within 45 days of the date of this Notice, an d mail
copies of such appearance to the Lead Counsel for the Class identified
b elow.
3. By remaining in the Class, you will not subject
yourself to an y obligation to pay the costs of the Action. All costs
and expenses, including attorneys fees, will be paid by AOL, as such
amounts may be approved and order ed by the Court.
B. You may exclude yourself from the Class.
1. If you wish to exclude yourself from the Class, you
must mail a signed letter requesting exclusion, postmarked on or
before November 15, 1997, to:
Schwab v. AOL, 96 CH 13732
Clerk, Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois
Chancery Division
Richard J. Daley Center
Room 803
Chicago, Illinois 60602
2. Your request for exclusion must set forth your name,
address a nd telephone number, the name and number of the Action
(Schwab v. America Onlin e, Inc., No. 96-CH-013732), and must state
that you "request exclusion from the America Online Subscriber Access
Class". Your request must be postmarked on or before November 15,
1997. If your request for exclusion is timely postmarke d, you will
be excluded from the Class. If excluded, you will not receive any
benefits under the Settlement. IF YOU WISH TO BE ELIGIBLE TO
PARTICIPATE IN TH E BENEFITS OF THE SETTLEMENT, DO NOT FILE A REQUEST
FOR EXCLUSION.
3. If excluded, you will not be bound by the outcome of
the Action and will retain any rights you may have including (without
limitation) the ri ght to receive benefits under the Assurance of
Voluntary Compliance. If you re quest exclusion from the Class, you
will not be entitled to an extended period in which to file claims
under the AVC proceeding, but must have filed your clai m under the
AVC proceeding on or before June 4, 1997 (not December 1, 1997, the
date that applies to persons who do not request exclusion from the
class Settl ement described above). Your claim can be mailed to
either your State's Attorn ey General or to AOL at the following
address:
AOL Subscriber Claims I
P.O. Box 511
Ogden, Utah 84402
C. You may object to the Settlement
1. If you do not request exclusion from the Class, you have the right
to objec t to any of the terms of the Settlement. If you object, you
must do so in a wr iting postmarked no later than November 15, 1997
with copies to the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County,
Chancery Division, Richard J. Daley Center, Roo m 802, Chicago,
Illinois 60602, and to the Lead Counsel for the Class and couns el for
AOL at the addresses set forth below. You cannot object to the
Settlement if you exclude yourself from the Class.
2. If you approve of the Settlement, you do not need to
take any action to indicate your approval. (You must, however, submit
claims as describ ed above in order to share in the refunds and
credits under the Settlement).
VII.
COUNSEL FOR THE PARTIES
Lead Counsel for the Class and Co-Chairs of the Executive Committee for the Pla
intiff Class are:
Ben Barnow, Esq. Larry D. Drury, Esq.
BARNOW and GOLDBERG, P.C. LARRY D. DRURY, LTD.
105 West Madison Street 105 West Madison Street
Chicago, Illinois 60602 Chicago, Illinois 60602
Lawrence A. Sucharow, Esq.
GOODKIND LABATON RUDOFF & SUCHAROW LLP
100 Park Avenue
New York, New York 10017
Additional Members of the Executive Committee for the
Plaintiff Class are:
Nicholas E. Chimicles, Esq.
CHIMICLES JACOBSEN & TIKELLIS
361 W. Lancaster Avenue
Haverford, PA 19041
Mark C. Gardy, Esq.
ABBEY, GARDY & SQUITIERI, LLP
212 East 39 Street
New York, NY 10016
Bruce E. Gerstein, Esq.
GARWIN, BRONZAFT, GERSTEIN
& FISHER, LLP
1501 Broadway
Suite 1416
New York, NY 10036
Joseph C. Kohn, Esq.
KOHN, SWIFT & GRAF, P.C.
Suite 2400
1101 Market Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107
Neil L. Selinger, Esq.
LOWEY, DANNENBERG, BEMPORAD
& SELINGER, P.C.
One North Lexington Avenue
White Plains, NY 10601
Robert A. Wallner, Esq.
MILBERG WEISS BERSHAD HYNES & LERACH LLP
One Penn Plaza
New York, NY 10119-0165
Stuart D. Wechsler, Esq.
WECHSLER HARWOOD HALEBIAN
& FEFFER LLP
805 Third Avenue
New York, NY 10022
Counsel for Defendant AOL is:
Tyrone C. Fahner, Esq.
MAYER BROWN & PLATT
190 South LaSalle Street
Chicago, Illinois 60603
VIII.
EXAMINATION OF PAPERS AND INQUIRIES
This Notice only provides a summary of the claims and the
Settlement. For a mo re detailed description of the terms of the
Settlement and other matters involv ed in this Action, please
refer to the MOU, the Complaint, pleadings and other papers filed
in this Action, which may be inspected at the office of the
Clerk, Circuit Court of Cook County, Chancery Division, Richard
J. Daley Center, Room 802, Chicago, Illinois 60602, during
business hours of each day.
In addition, a copy of this Notice is located on the Internet at
http://www.aol .com/legalnotice/.
Dated: Chicago, Illinois BY ORDER OF THE CIRCUIT COURT
May 22, 1997 COOK COUNTY, CHANCERY DIVISION
HONORABLE STEPHEN A. SCHILLER
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 12:28:53 -0400
From: "John P. Mello Jr." <jpmello@ultranet.com
Subject: File 2--Hoaxer (and a poor one) targets AOL
The following email appeared in my inbox yesterday. According to AOL, it's a
hoax. CU digest readers may be interested in being alerted about it.
John Mello
Woonsocket, RI
+++++++++++++=
From a former AOL employee:
I'll try and cut through the crap, and try to get to the point of
this letter. I used to work for America Online, and would like
to remain anonymous for that reason. I was laid off in early
September, but I know exactly why I was laid off, which I will
now explain:
Since last December, I had been one of the many people assigned
to design AOL 4.0 for Windows (AOL 4.0 beta, codenamed
Casablanca). In the beginning, I was very proud of this task,
until I found out the true cost of it. Things were going fine
until about mid-February, when me and 2 of my colleagues started
to suspect a problem, an unexplainable 'Privacy Invasion', with
the new version. One of them, who is a master programmer, copied
the finished portion of the new version (Then 'Build 52'), and
took it home, and we spent nearly 2 weeks of sleepless nights
examining and debugging the program, flipping it inside-out, and
here is what we found.
Unlike all previous versions of America Online, version 4.0 puts
something in your hard drive called a 'cookie'. (AOL members
click here for a definition). However, the cookie we found on
Version 4.0 was far more treacherous than the simple internet
cookie. How would
you like somebody looking at your entire hard drive, snooping
through any (yes, any) piece of information on your hard drive.
It could also read your password and log in information and store
it deep in the program code. Well, all previous versions,
whether you like it or not, have done this to a certain extent,
but only with files you downloaded. As me and my colleagues
discovered, with the new version, anytime you are signed on to
AOL, any top aol executive, any aol worker, who has been sworn to
secrecy regarding this feature, can go into your hard drive and
retrieve any piece of information that they so desire. Billing,
download records, e-mail, directories, personal documents,
programs, financial information, scanned images, etc ... Better
start keeping all those pictures on a floppy disk!
This is a totally disgusting violation of our rights, and your
right to know as well. Since this is undoubtably 'Top Secret'
information that I am revealing, my life at AOL is pretty much
over. After discovering this information, we started to inform a
few other workers at America Online, so that we could get a large
enough crew to stop this from happening to the millions of
unfortunate and unsuspecting America Online members. This was in
early August. One month later, all three of us were unemployed.
We got together, and figured there was something we had to do to
let the public know.
Unemployed, with one of us going through a divorce (me) and
another who is about to undergo treatment for Cancer, our
combined financial situation is not currently enough to release
any sort or article. We attepted to create a web page on three
different servers containing in-depth information on AOL 4.0, but
all three were taken down within 2 days. We were running very
low on time (4.0 is released early this winter), so we figured
our last hope to reveal this madness before it effects the people
was starting something similar to a chain letter, this letter you
are reading. Please do the following, to help us expose AOL for
who they really are, and to help us and yourself recieve personal
gratification for taking a stand for our freedom:
1. Forward this letter to as many people as you can (not just
friends and family, as many as you can!)
2. Tell people who aren't on America Online in person,
especially important people (Private Investigators, Government
workers, City Council)
3. If the information about the new version isn't exposed by the
time aol is released early this winter, for your own protection,
DON'T DOWNLOAD AOL 4.0 UNDER ANY CONDITION !!!
Thank you for reading and examining this information. Me and my
colleagues hope that you will help us do the right thing in this
situation. Enjoy America Online (just kidding!).
Regards,
A former AOL employee
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 26 Oct 1997 12:41:10 -0600
From: jthomas2@VENUS.SOCI.NIU.EDU(Jim Thomas)
Subject: File 3--AOL Says E-Mail Scare is a Hoax
Date: Tuesday, October 14, 1997
Source: By Jon Van, Tribune Staff Writer.
Section: BUSINESS
Parts: 7
Copyright Chicago Tribune
AOL SAYS E-MAIL SCARE IS A HOAX
America Online's rollout of new channels Monday was marred
somewhat by an electronic mail hoax claiming that the nation's
leading on-line service will use a new generation of its software
to spy on customers.
AOL denied the e-mail letter has any validity and said it has
reported the document to the federal Department of Energy, which,
in turn, has listed it on a Web site devoted to news of Internet
viruses and hoaxes.
The e-mail purports to be from a former AOL employee who said
that he and other former employees discovered that AOL's new
software, dubbed AOL 4.0, contains code that enables the company
to go into the hard drive of a customer's computer and retrieve
any information stored there.
The company said this is false.
"We don't scan or search or track any information on any
member's hard drive," said Tricia Primrose, an AOL spokeswoman.
"We have a real commitment to our subscribers and protecting their
privacy."
<snip>
((The article notes that the concern is over the "cookies" that
gather information about and from users' Net travels. It adds that
AOL's software won't be available to customers until later this
year))
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 7 May 1997 22:51:01 CST
From: CuD Moderators <cudigest@sun.soci.niu.edu>
Subject: File 4--Cu Digest Header Info (unchanged since 7 May, 1997)
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