Microsoft fails to play well with both pornographic content and spam. Bringing these two together only increases the stakes for the Redmond company. Case in point: a case against Impulse Media Group in Seattle in which Microsoft has played a pivotal role. The evidence delivered by the Redmond giant's investigators was sufficient for Impulse Media Group, an operator of pornographic websites, to come under investigation for spamming practices.

To this date, the Redmond company is estimated to have contributed to in excess of 130 lawsuits aimed at spammers in the United States, the majority of which in the Seattle are due to the spam legislation in the Washington state. "The judges here in Seattle hear a lot of spam cases. Over time, they've developed a tremendous expertise in this area of law ... which is a specialty by any assessment," said Aaron Kornblum, Internet Safety Enforcement Attorney with the Redmond giant, according to SeattlePI.

However, the case against Impulse Media Group was not a success for Microsoft. The pornographic Websites operator accused of illegal spamming by the Federal Trade Commission won the lawsuit. SeattlePI revealed that Microsoft had played a big role in the case by supplying the evidence against Impulse Media. The Redmond company, through its Windows Live service, is capable of not only delivering web-based mail services, but also set up accounts that act like spam traps.

Impulse Media Group argued throughout the lawsuit that it had not been involved in any spam practices, throwing the blame on its affiliates. The adult content company stated from the get-go that it could not be held responsible for the emails spammed by its partners. The unsolicited mail messages contained sexually explicit materials. Kornblum stated that the lost legal battle against Impulse Media group "does not impact how Microsoft will continue to assist government efforts to help keep people safe online."