I don't know if this got passed along or not, but I thought it would be good to share...... Oregon Man Fined For Spam E-Mails http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=528&e=7&cid=528&u=/ap/20021019/ap_on_hi_te/spam_lawsuit By PAUL QUEARY, Associated Press Writer SEATTLE (AP) - An Oregon man was ordered Friday to pay nearly $100,000 in the first case brought under Washington's tough law against "spam" e-mails. Attorney General Christine Gregoire's office estimates that Jason Heckel, 28, of Salem, sent as many as 20,000 unsolicited e-mails to Washington residents in 1998, trying to sell a $39.95 booklet called "How to Profit from the Internet." The case was the first brought after the Legislature banned commercial e-mail with misleading information in the subject line, invalid reply addresses or disguised paths of transmission. Judge Douglass North ordered Heckel to pay a $2,000 fine and more than $94,000 in legal fees. Heckel didn't appear in court. In a written statement he said he never intended to break the law, and that he made only about $680 from book sales. Heckel's lawyer Dale Crandall said he plans to appeal, and argued that state anti-spam laws violate the U.S. Constitution's protection of interstate commerce. "It would create a patchwork of laws that would be impossible to keep up with," Crandall said. Gary Gardner, executive director of the Washington Association of Internet Service Providers, one of the anti-spam law's backers, said he hoped the fine is the beginning of a new push to enforce the law. "Our goal was never to make any money on this stuff," Gardner said. "It's to put these people out of business." _____________ This e-mail transmission and any attachments to it are intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom it is addressed and may contain confidential and privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient, your use, forwarding, printing, storing, disseminating, distribution, or copying of this communication is prohibited. If you received this communication in error, please notify the sender immediately by replying to this message and delete it from your computer.
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