Internet Service Provider Awarded $1 Billion in Spam Damages

KingFishKingFish
edited December 2004 in Science & Tech
Antispam activists disagree about whether a $1.08 billion judgment against three spammers in Iowa last week will discourage others from sending unsolicited bulk e-mail.
Judge Charles Wolle, with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, awarded the money, believed to be the largest spam judgment ever, to Robert Kramer, owner of CIS Internet Services, an ISP (Internet service provider) based in Clinton, Iowa. Kramer accused the three companies of sending his 5000-customer ISP millions of pieces of spam between August and December 2003.

Wolle, using an Iowa antispam law and a U.S. racketeering law, ordered Cash Link Systems of Florida to pay Kramer $360 million; AMP Dollar Savings of Arizona to pay $720 million; and TEI Marketing Group of Florida to pay $140,000. The Iowa spam law allows damages of $10 per spam message sent, plus punitive damages.
Source: PC World

Comments

  • EMTEMT Seattle, WA Icrontian
    edited December 2004
    Holy crap! That's a lot of money! If one assumes a customer pays $50/month for his ISP's service(just a wild guess), a billion dollars is equal to 3+ centuries of payment from his customer base!
  • Lord_NightLord_Night Piqua Ohio
    edited December 2004
    They will appeal, and tie it up in court for years.. he will probalby never see the money. cause the companies will file bankcruptcy and then change there name. or disappear all together never to be heard from again.

    this guy wont be seeing a dime of this money.....
  • deepseadeepsea Lancaster, PA
    edited December 2004
    If it prevents just one moron from becoming a spammer, I'll be happy. If it prevents 100 morons from becoming spammers, lots of people will be happy.
  • Lord_NightLord_Night Piqua Ohio
    edited December 2004
    well true on that point.....
    if it scares someone from doing it.. then it worked
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