Anti-spamming lawsuit fetches ISP $1.3 bn

On December 18, a federal judge in Davenport, Lowa awarded a $1.32-billion

compensation to a small US-based ISP. Robert Kramer, whose company CIS Internet

Services supplies email services to customers in Lowa had filed a suit against

300 spammers after his inbound mail servers received up to 10 million spam

emails a day in 2000. Judge Charles Wolle 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 as damages.

The Lowa spam law allows damages of $10 for each unsolicited mail sent, plus

punitive damages. John Levine, Chairman of Internet Research Task Force's

Antispam Group said, "The case is an opportunity to show judges the damage

spam does". "It's definitely a victory for all of us who open emails

and find lewd, malicious and fraudulent messages in our boxes everyday,"

Kramer said after the ruling. Laura Atkins, president of Antispam Group in the

US, however questioned whether the judgment would actually stop spammers because

they are likely to pay a fraction of the compensation, and can file for

bankruptcy to retain significant assets.

“The Indian IT Act is completely silent on the issue of spam”  -Pawan Duggal  Lawyer, Supreme Court

Commenting on the jurisdiction and its mirror face in India, Supreme Court

Lawyer Pawan Duggal, "The Indian IT Act is completely silent on the issue

of spam. There is no operative remedy against spammers in our country and this

gives license to people to engage in spam under the garb of online

marketing."

Pawan Duggal adds, "The IT Act only provides that if a spam damages the

computer, a grieved person can technically claim compensation for. Another

problem is the issue of jurisdiction on spam. If the spammer is physically

located outside your territorial boundaries, then you can effectively do

nothing."

Jasmine Kaur in New

Delhi