The owner of a Detroit-based commercial e-mail company has agreed to a permanent injunction barring him from sending spam to customers of Verizon Online, a unit of Verizon Communications.

The advertising mails containing bad things for juveniles like sexual and violent contents should attach the notice of `Ads for Adults` to the title from July.

Spam, the junk e-mails pitching herbal Viagra, mortgage re-financing, pornography and countless other products and services, is flooding the mailboxes of millions of Internet users. Studies suggest the volume of spam has grown fivefold in the last year alone. Spam is more than an annoyance; it costs millions to users, businesses and Internet service providers. Unless stopped, the utility of e-mail itself could be threatened.

Three consumer groups petitioned the Federal Trade Commission Wednesday to enact tougher rules regarding the sending of unsolicited commercial e-mail, popularly known as spam. If the rule is enacted, the FTC could move swiftly to blunt the unrelenting assault that spam e-mails impose on the time and pocketbooks of consumers, the groups said.

Susan Guberman-Garcia dreads retrieving her e-mail. Every day, she wades through unsolicited messages pitching online gambling, get-rich schemes and sex sites.

Internet Name Group, the Melbourne-based domain name registrar that was placed in "voluntary administration", has reached out from beyond the grave to hassle more New Zealand name holders.

A statement concerning one of their clients, the Bill Jones for Governor campaign, and their disregard for normal rules of conduct on the Internet by spamming through a Korean open relay server.