Court Won’t Order Google To Lift Manual Block For ‘Thin Content’–ICF v. Google
ICF provides web hosting services to hundreds of pornography websites. Google allegedly manually blocked these sites for spam, characterizing them as having “thin content,” which Google defines as “providing internet content that has little or no value to end-users.” The…
Court Accepts Narrow View of CAN-SPAM Preemption but Ultimately Dismisses Claims – Davison Design v. Riley
This is a lawsuit over spam emails. I know, it’s 2013, but bear with me. Riley sent a demand letter alleging that numerous emails sent by or on behalf of plaintiff violated California’s spam statute. Plaintiff turned around and filed…
It’s Illegal For Offline Retailers To Collect Email Addresses–Capp v. Nordstrom
The California Supreme Court issued a decision a couple of years ago holding that a zip code is “personal identification information” under the Song-Beverly Credit Card Act of 1974, making it illegal for retailers to ask consumers to provide zip…
Spam Arrest’s Sender Agreement Fails Because Email Marketer’s Employees Lacked Authority–Spam Arrest v. Replacements (Forbes Cross-Post)
By Eric Goldman Spam Arrest LLC v Replacements Ltd., 2013 WL 4675919 (W.D. Wash. Aug. 29, 2013) People hate receiving spam, but most people stopped obsessing about spam a decade ago or more. In the interim, anti-spam filters have improved…
Telephone Consumer Protection Act Case Update – Summer 2013 Edition
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] There are a ton of TCPA cases out there. I don’t have the resources to track all of them, but here are a few that came up on my radar screen over the past few months….
Another Spam Litigation Factory Unravels –- Beyond Systems v. Kraft
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Beyond Systems, Inc. v. Kraft Foods, Inc., PJM 08-409 (D.Md. Aug. 12, 2013). We keep blogging significant spam cases, but in recent years we’ve noted the decrease in spam litigation (perhaps owing to a shift in…
Independent Contractor Relationship Between Sender and Advertiser Dooms Spam Claims – Kramer v. NCS
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Kramer v. NCS, 12-1956 (8th Cir. May 28, 2013) Kramer, who operated an internet service provider in Clinton, Iowa, filed an ambitious–and as it turned out, ultimately quixotic–lawsuit over spam emails. He initially sued 300 unnamed…
CAN-SPAM Violations For Private WHOIS Information and Putting Disclosures in Remotely Served Images – ZooBuh v. Better Broadcasting
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Zoobuh, Inc. v. Better Broadcasting, LLC, 11cv00516-DN (D. Utah May 31, 2013) Spam litigation has waned. In its place, text message litigation has blossomed. Still, once in awhile an interesting spam decision comes along, though unfortunately…
Crazy SOPA-Like Attempt to Hold International Banks Liable for Pharmacy Spam Fails on Jurisdiction Grounds–Unspam v. Chernuk
[By Venkat Balasubramani with comments from Eric Goldman] Unspam Technologies, Inc. v. Chernuk, 2013 WL 1849080 (4th Cir. May 4, 2013) We’ve mentioned “Project Honeypot,” the efforts of a company (founded by Matthew Prince) to track down and prosecute spammers….
Telephone Consumer Protection Act Case Update – February 2013 Edition
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Birchmeier v. Econ. Strategy Group, 12 C 4069 (N.D. Ill. Dec. 28, 2012): This was a putative class action filed against Economic Strategy Group and Caribbean Cruise Line. Plaintiff alleges that defendants made calls to their…