I know that the national "Do Not Call" list is in place. Is there anything prohibiting spam mailings, other than the threat of a network company to block the links to other ISPs? I don't believe there's been any laws that make spam mail illegal.
Has anybody heard of anything like that?
And WTF about dismissing the Virginia suit? Seems to me if a company is located in Virginia, and the spam went through the company's computers located in Virginia, then Virginia would have jurisdiction. Hopefully the Fla. lawsuit will prevail for AOL.
AOL sues Florida company accused of helping spammers
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- America Online is suing a central Florida computer company for allegedly helping spam operators based in Thailand distribute at least 35 million junk e-mails offering low mortgage rates.
The spam generated 1.5 million complaints from members, AOL claimed in a federal lawsuit refiled in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.
The suit alleges Connor Miller Software, based in the Orlando suburb of Winter Garden, conspired to set up and maintain a bank of e-mail servers for the spam ring's use. The lawsuit further alleges one of the company's executives wrote code for the bulk e-mail program the spammers used in an attempt to evade AOL's mail filters.
"The bottom line of this lawsuit is we're going after the spammers where they live," AOL spokesman Nicholas Graham said.
The suit seeks $1.6 million in statutory damages, possible additional compensatory and punitive damages, and asset forfeiture.
Heidi Miller, named as a co-defendant, said the company did nothing wrong in setting up a program that sent messages in bulk to a legally purchased e-mail list.
"AOL's intention is deliberate," she said. "They want to make us go belly-up financially so we can't defend ourselves."
AOL first sued Connor Miller Software in Virginia last year. But a federal judge threw out the suit in December, stating AOL had failed to show that Virginia had jurisdiction over the defendants simply because the company is located there and the e-mails had gone through its computers. The suit was refiled in Orlando last week.
The company spent $40,000 defending itself in Virginia, Miller said.
A separate suit is pending in Virginia against the two men - Americans living in Thailand - who hired Connor Miller Software.
