Thanks for sharing that, Stephen. I doubt we can consider this a
deterrent for spammers but at least its a precedence.
Justin
Stephen wrote:
Thought I'd send this out to you guys in case you haven't seen this article.
Nice that someone is finally doing something huh?
ISP Awarded $1 Billion in Anti-Spam Suit
Sat Dec 18, 3:25 PM ET Technology - AP
DAVENPORT, Iowa - A federal judge has awarded an Internet service provider
more than $1 billion in what is believed to be the largest judgment ever
against spammers.
Robert Kramer, whose company provides e-mail service for about 5,000
subscribers in eastern Iowa, filed suit against 300 spammers after his
inbound mail servers received up to 10 million spam e-mails a day in 2000,
according to court documents.
U.S. District Judge Charles R. Wolle filed default judgments Friday against
three of the defendants under the Federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt
Organizations Act and the Iowa Ongoing Criminal Conduct Act.
AMP Dollar Savings Inc. of Mesa, Ariz., was ordered to pay $720 million and
Cash Link Systems Inc. of Miami, Fla., was ordered to pay $360 million. The
third company, Florida-based TEI Marketing Group, was ordered to pay
$140,000.
"It's definitely a victory for all of us that open up our e-mail and find
lewd and malicious and fraudulent e-mail in our boxes every day," Kramer
said after the ruling.
Kramer's attorney, Kelly Wallace, said he is unlikely to ever collect the
judgment, which was made possible by an Iowa law that allows plaintiffs to
claim damages of $10 per spam message. The judgments were then tripled under
RICO.
"We hope to recover at least his costs," Wallace said.
There were no telephone listings for the three companies in Arizona and
Florida. Nobody replied to an e-mail sent Saturday to Cash Link Systems.
According to court documents, no attorneys for the defendants were present
during a bench trial in November. The lawsuit continues against other named
defendants.
Laura Atkins, president of SpamCon Foundation, an anti-spamming organization
based in Palo Alto, Calif., said she believed it was the largest judgment
ever in an anti-spam lawsuit.
"This is just incredible," she said. "I'm not aware of anything that's been
over $100 million."
Best Regards,
Stephen Vasko
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