******** From: Sonia Arrison <sarrisonat_private> To: "'declanat_private'" <declanat_private> Subject: Canning spam through contracts Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2001 12:14:49 -0700 Fyi - from Siliconvalley.com. This shows that the market is working. A contract was broken, and the company was forced to pay. It's a small violation, so it's a small award. But the principle that a privacy contract must be honored was upheld in the consumer's favor. -Sonia Opt-out user mercilessly encouraged to opt in: A number of you wrote in Wednesday to comment on Slashdot's discussion of what appears to be the first successful application of California's anti-spam laws. The plaintiff in the case, Ellen Spertus, filed suit against Kozmo.com in California small claims court after receiving an e-mail that Kozmo.com broadcast specifically to those who had opted OUT of receiving such announcements. Ironically, the text of the offending e-mail encouraged those who received it to visit the Kozmo.com site and opt-in to its subscriber contact list. An asinine marketing effort to be sure, and one with which Spertus took issue in a number of complaints sent to the venture. In a formal response her messages, a Kozmo.com representative -- while explaining that the e-mail in question was "in no way intended to be obnoxious" -- took great pains to confirm that the now-defunct company had "knowingly sent out to all customers who elected not to opt in during sign-up." Little did he know that his conciliatory message would be a key document in Spertus' suit against the company, which was resolved in her favor Wednesday. Spertus, who was awarded $50 in damages and $27.50 in court costs, aparently declined to accept Kozmo.com's offer of "ten Kozmo dollars" for her troubles. http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=01/04/18/1251219&mode=thread http://www.suespammers.org/ca/lawindex.shtml http://www.spertus.com/ellen/Kozmo/kozmo1.html http://www.spertus.com/ellen/Kozmo/kozmo2.html http://www.spertus.com/ellen/Kozmo/judgment.gif ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if it remains intact. To subscribe, visit http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Thu Apr 19 2001 - 12:26:50 PDT
