Computer-savvy truckers could see a little less spam out there on the Information Superhighway since the Federal Trade Commission recently snagged a group of pop-up spammers.

A recent survey of OOIDA's owner-operator members indicates that 57 percent of these truckers own a computer, and 50 percent are keeping their business records on computer. Fourteen percent say they're toting computers in their trucks.

Since many have slower-speed Internet connections, constant pop-up ads or spam are a special concern.

At the Federal Trade Commission's request, a U.S. district court has issued a temporary restraining order against an operation that barraged numerous consumers' computers with repeated Windows Messenger Service pop-up ads - most of which advertised software that would block future pop-ups.

The defendants repeatedly sent messages to consumers - as frequently as every 10 minutes - instructing consumers to visit Web sites that state the barrage of pop-ups could be stopped by purchasing software at a cost of $25 to $30.

By using the Windows Messenger Service, the defendants caused their pop-ups to appear on consumers' computer screens even when consumers were not browsing the Internet. According to the FTC, consumers can stop the pop-ups by changing the default setting on their Windows operating system.

"This is nothing more than a high-tech version of a classic scam," said Howard Beales, director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection. "The defendants created the problem that they proposed to solve - for a fee. Their pop-up spam wasted computer users' time and caused them needless frustration."

The complaint was filed against the following defendants, all of whom are based in San Diego: D Squared Solutions LLC; and Anish Dhingra and Jeffrey Davis, officers of D Squared. Land Line's attempts to contact the company were unsuccessful.

The defendants allegedly caused Messenger Service windows to pop up on consumers' computer screens - as often as every 10 minutes - advertising software that would supposedly block future pop-up spam messages from occurring.

The commission vote to approve the complaint was 5-0. The complaint was filed in U.S. District Court in Maryland, and a temporary restraining order was issued Oct. 30.

However, Land Line found 16 of the company's 26 Web sites still operating as of Nov. 20.