Hi, Virus KLEZ has forged our address many times and people complaint to us. I think the best you can do is to install an Anti-SPAM software (there're 5 freeware, I think). Some of them can delete the message in your server.
About SPAM it is legal as far as the company provides you with the tools to remove your address and they delete it when you require it. Other thing is when you say that you don't want to receive more publicity and they keep on sending it. If you have followed their instructions to delete your address and they don't pay attention to you, then it is illegal and you can act against them, because you cannot use your constitutional rights and it is penaltied up to $500.000 in Spain. For other infractions of constitutional rights there're penalties up to 6 yrs. imprisionment. To send unsolicited publicity is as legal as to turn the TV on and received it. If you don't want to receive publicity, you tune a private channel or don't buy a newspaper or listen to a public radio. But in the case of the Internet, if I publish my email address in a web site, this can be interpreted that you want anybody who visits your web to write to you. Another thing is to say "write to me if you only want to buy, not to sell", but companies don't do that but they do complain about SPAM. About individuals, I think it is the responsability of the websites in which they store the email address (for instance, a newsgroup or a forum) to protect the privacy of the contributors, so if you know where you left your email address and this one was taken by a SPAMMER, you don't have to sue the spammer, because he/she/it is performing something as old as Capitalism, that is Commercial Exploration. It is common in snail mail, how wasn't it going to do the same in the Internet. We, everyday, receive letters from many Companies, saying, "Hey, do you need a painter?", or "Great discounts in your Town's Megastore". Well, you can receive an email from a Company which says "We have these electronic components...." (like to me, that I don't know what to do with those chips!) So, summarizing, if you receive an email from somebody and you don't want it, you have to ask for an unsubscription. Pay attention on how to unsubscribe, because many of us don't follow the instructions properly and the email sent is going to be read by a machine, not a person, so if the email says "send a message with the word REMOVE to the address [EMAIL PROTECTED]" and you send "Hi, very nice you wrote to me. Would you please to unsubscribe me. Thank you"; you are not unsubscribed then. If you receive many from many people, install an Anti-SPAM software. If this doesn't work, try to remind where you left your email address and ask the webmaster to delete your email address. If he/she/it doesn't do it, then sue (whatever). If you have thousands of emails, then change your email address and send a letter to your contacts informing them that your email address. Next time, take more care where you leave your email address and see if the site has Privacy Rules. Hope it is useful Comments welcome Alfredo G�mez SPAIN ----- Mensaje original ----- De: "Ted Gavin" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Para: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Enviado: domingo, 19 de mayo de 2002 17:06 Asunto: Re: [spamcon-general] Fraud involving my domain name - any action I can take? 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] _______________________________________________ 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]
