On Sat, 18 May 2002 19:31:50 -0700, Doug Mehus <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>I'm no legal expert by any means, but just reading the first paragraph, >you might be able to win a slander or libel lawsuit. Or, just a simple >defamation of character for your business/website. Nor am I a lawyer, but rather than trying to imply damages through association, it might be more productive to travel an already worn path. One of the earlier successes against spammers was in the case America Online v. Cyber Promotions, which was consolidated with Cyber Promotions v. America Online in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Here are the cites: America Online, Inc. v. Cyber Promotions, Inc., No. 96-462 (E.D. Va. complaint filed Apr. 8, 1996) [WWW] (subsequently consolidated with Cyber Promotions' action filed in E.D. Pa.). Cyber Promotions, Inc. v. America Online, Inc., C.A. No. 96- 2486, 1996 WL 565818 (E.D. Pa. Sept. 5, 1996) (temporary restraining order) [WWW | Westlaw], rev'd (3d Cir. Sept. 20, 1996), partial summary judgment granted, 948 F. Supp. 436 (E.D. Pa. Nov. 4, 1996) (on First Amendment issues) [WWW | Lexis | Westlaw], reconsideration denied, 948 F. Supp. 436, 447 (Dec. 20, 1996) [WWW | Lexis | Westlaw], temporary restraining order denied, 948 F. Supp. 456 (E.D. Pa. Nov. 26, 1996) (on antitrust claim) [WWW | Lexis | Westlaw], settlement entered (E.D. Pa. Feb. 4, 1997) [NEWS.COM report]. One approach AOL took was that of trespass to chattels, the civil-law equivalent to theft. The unauthorized use of one's domain name falls under that category. In addition, I am aware of one specific case that is directly on point with your complaint: Parker, Zilker Internet Park, Inc., Parker, Rauch, Texas Internet Service Providers Association & EFF-Austin v. C.N. Enterprises & Craig Nowak The case was tried in the Travis County, TX district court in 1997. Here's a link to the court's ruling: http://www.jmls.edu/cyber/cases/flowers3.html There are other instances of people reacting to the same events that you have described, as in WebSystems v. Cyberpromotions, Inc and Sanford Wallace [WWW]. http://www.jmls.edu/cyber/cases/websys1.html As such, if you want to pursue litigation, I'd suggest you give the Electronic Freedom Foundation a call and see if they want to repeat their past success with Zilker et al. Finding out who is really sending the spam and letting them know that there's already case law in your favor might not hurt, if you'd rather avoid litigation. Hope that helps. Ted >----- Original Message ----- >From: "Al Bredenberg" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Sent: Saturday, May 18, 2002 12:58 PM >Subject: [spamcon-general] Fraud involving my domain name - any action I can take? > > >> Dear list members, >> >> Today I've received hundreds of bounce messages which I believe are a result >> of someone forging my domain name (broadmountain.com) in a spam that went >> out advertising a weight-loss product. >> >> I'm wondering whether there's any action I can take (legal or otherwise) >> against whoever did this. Short of that, I would at least like to find out >> what they did, how they did it, and whether there's any way to protect >> myself from this kind of fraud in the future (or even later today -- the >> bounce messages are still coming in). Ted Gavin * [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Trustee & Officer, SpamCon Foundation <http://www.spamcon.org> A California Non-Profit Organization Protecting email as a medium of communications and commerce Donations: <http://www.spamcon.org/donations> _______________________________________________ spamcon-general mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.spamcon.org/mailman/listinfo/spamcon-general#subscribers Subscribe, unsubscribe, etc: Use the URL above or send "help" in body of message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Contact administrator: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
