Court Renders $3 Judgment Against Spamhaus 156
www.sorehands.com writes "Back in 2006, e360Insight and David Linhardt obtained an $11.7M judgment against Spamhaus, an international anti-spam organization. The judgment was subsequently appealed and reduced to $27,002. That judgment was appealed yet again, and the appeals court has now vacated the earlier number and entered a judgment against Spamhaus in the amount of $3. (Yes, three dollars.) As you may recall, e360's oral arguments for the latest appeal were not well received by the court."
The ruling itself is a fairly entertaining diatribe about how e360 shot itself in the foot repeatedly and with enthusiasm throughout the case, and contains gems like this: "By failing to comply with its basic discovery obligations, a party can snatch defeat from the jaws of certain victory."
Re:See... (Score:5, Interesting)
How many people actually legitimately "opt-in" for spam? Probably pretty close to 0.
Quite a few, actually.
Like ge7 said ... history has proven that people *will* opt into spam if you give them something in return. Give them a free ringtone, a mp3, some porn. Or a coupon for free food, and they'll agree to almost anything. It's not like anybody actually reads what they're agreeing to.
Of course, the flip side is that many of these people will scream bloody murder when these companies start spamming them "for no reason".
And many people do opt-in to spam -- spam that's highly targeted. As ge7 said ... GroupOn deals in your area? Often quite valuable, but once you stop caring -- it's spam.
Re:See... (Score:4, Interesting)
If my pencil-shop sends me an email after 5 years because he wants to sell a new one, it is spam. You don't expect it.
If my car-dealer sends me an email after 5 years because he wants to inform me about a call-back, most people would not consider it spam.
If my ISP sends me an email about pencils, it is spam.
If I cannot opt-out because I need my customer card to complete the procedure, it is spam.
Actually, and anyone at an ESP will tell you that, if the receiver thinks it is spam: it is. Because _that will_ hurt your deliverability at the hotmails and yahoos of the world.
Btw I'm in that business.