Chartered engineer Nigel Roberts became the first person to win a court judgment over a company's breach of the UK's anti-spam law late last year. His success received widespread media coverage – and now he's encouraging others to do the same. Roberts sued Media Logistics (UK) Ltd, a marketing firm based in Falkirk, Scotland, for sending him unsolicited emails about contract car hire and fax broadcasting businesses. . The judge's ruling is unlikely to influence future courts: it was an undefended Small Claims action – the simplest procedure in the English court system, which can be used by anyone without legal representation. The link for this article located at TheRegister.co.uk is no longer available. . Engineer Michael Thompson won a significant legal battle against a junk email firm, paving the way for others in the UK.. Spam Lawsuit, UK Court Ruling, Anti-Spam Laws, Email Marketing, Legal Action. . LinuxSecurity.com Team
Leading Internet companies, in an unusual joint effort among corporate rivals, announced six lawsuits Wednesday against hundreds of people accused of sending millions of unwanted e-mails in violation of the new federal law against "spam." Actions by Microsoft Corp., America Online Inc., Earthlink Inc. and Yahoo! Inc. represent the first major industry actions under the "can spam" legislation that went into effect Jan. 1. The suits were filed in federal courts in California, Georgia, Virginia and Washington state. . . .. Leading Internet companies, in an unusual joint effort among corporate rivals, announced six lawsuits Wednesday against hundreds of people accused of sending millions of unwanted e-mails in violation of the new federal law against "spam." Actions by Microsoft Corp., America Online Inc., Earthlink Inc. and Yahoo! Inc. represent the first major industry actions under the "can spam" legislation that went into effect Jan. 1. The suits were filed in federal courts in California, Georgia, Virginia and Washington state. Dozens of those named were identified only as "John Doe" defendants accused of e-mailing unwanted pitches for prescription drugs, herbal potions and weight loss plans. Lawyers expressed confidence they can work through the courts, using subpoenas and other investigative tools, to identify and find them. "We've been doing this a long time, and we know what we're doing. We're only a couple subpoenas away from standing at someone's door and handing them a summons," said Les Seagraves, the assistant general counsel at Earthlink, which named 75 "John Doe" defendants in its lawsuits. The recording industry has been remarkably successful in identifying Internet users in copyright infringement lawsuits, in most cases tracing a subscriber's unique Internet address. But spammers are famously skillful at covering their tracks, often routing unwanted e-mails through hacked or unprotected computers overseas and working under aliases and shell companies, complicating efforts to trace and identifythem. Yahoo, for example, employed as one of its lawyers in these cases Marc Zwillinger, a former computer-crimes expert at the Justice Department (news - web sites) who investigated the high-profile Internet attacks in February 2000 by a Canadian teenager known as Mafia Boy. "It is a significant challenge," acknowledged H. Robert Wientzen, chief executive at the Direct Marketing Association, who said he supports the latest lawsuits. He said companies are increasingly successful tracing spammers. "We're making some progress with techniques and tools that are starting to pay some dividends," Wientzen said. The four companies said the defendants include some of the nation's most notorious large-scale spammers. They said they shared information, resources and investigative information to identify some of them. The link for this article located at AP is no longer available. . Leading Internet companies, in an unusual joint effort among corporate rivals, announced six lawsuit. leading, internet, companies, unusual, joint, effort, among, corporate, rivals, announced. . Anthony Pell
Bennett Haselton, the Webmaster for anti-Internet censorship Web site Peacefire.org, is the latest in a string of Washington residents to emerge victorious in small claims court by invoking the state's new law against unsolicited bulk e-mail. While the $2,000 in damages . . . . Bennett Haselton, the Webmaster for anti-Internet censorship Web site Peacefire.org, is the latest in a string of Washington residents to emerge victorious in small claims court by invoking the state's new law against unsolicited bulk e-mail. While the $2,000 in damages he?s won would hardly seem worth the six-month fight, Haselton said he'll soon be taking more spammers to court now that he's learned how to work the system. "Now that I've got the hang of it, I'll probably be at the courtroom just about every week, since I get more than enough spam to keep filing about one lawsuit per day," Haselton said. "In the long run I hope that enough Washington State residents will become aware of their rights under the anti-spam law -- so much so that it becomes economically impossible for U.S. companies to spam, with all the Washington residents that file lawsuits against them." The link for this article located at Newsbytes is no longer available. . Bennett Haselton's victories in spam litigation spotlight Washington's anti-spam regulations aimed at reducing unsolicited emails.. Bennett Haselton, Peacefire, spam lawsuits, anti-spam legislation, email spam. . LinuxSecurity.com Team
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