[SC-Help] Pfizer speaks about spam

[anonymous poster at 128.146.70.184]

This posting made from the web-site.  Please reply via
email in addition to the group.  Thanks.
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(Pfizer replied to a consumer complaint about spam.)

Pfizer, Inc.
235 East 42nd Street
New York, NY 10017-5755
August 14, 2003

"Thank you for your letter...regarding unsolicited emails you've received from websites selling Viagra.  And thank you for forwarding this email on to the FTC and the FDA. With the help of consumers such as you, we hope that we can eliminate these unsolicited emails.

Pfizer is strongly opposed to internet prescribing and neither supports nor endorses any website that sells Viagra without a face-to-face visit with a physician.  In fact, some states prohibit this practice.

Pfizer actively seeks to defend our patent and trademark rights whenever we can.  We have taken action against a number of products and websites that infringe on these rights.  However, many of the websites "sponsoring" the unsolicited emails operate in countries that do not always respoect intellectual property rights.  In addition, as I'm sure you are aware, it can be difficult to enforce U.S. laws on the internet as websites readily cross state and national borders.

In your letter, you state that "It would be in everyone's best interest if Pfizer Corporation gathered reports about such e-mails, and allocated funding to help Internet Service Providers to successfully prosecute the violators." Unfortunately, ISP's do not prosecute violators as it is not in their domain.

However, Pfizer devotes significant time and resources to dealing with the issue of genuine, fake and generic Viagra offers on the internet and we are looking into everything we can do to educate the public about these websites and the potential risks they pose...

- Ruth Berkowitz, Viagra Marketing Manager"