Spam Lawsuit Dismissed
from the even-opting-out-isn't-good-enough dept
A high profile "test case" against Sprint for spamming a guy in Salt Lake City (in violation of Utah's new anti-spam law) was dismissed today, as the judge ruled that Sprint had a "pre-existing relationship" with the guy who filed the lawsuit. The focus of the article seems to make a big deal out of how this is somehow a "blow" to the spam law - but it's not. The ruling has nothing to do with the law itself, but how it was applied in this case. However, what I find more upsetting is that this guy clearly "opted-out" of receiving messages - and yet he still received the spam a few days later. Basically, what the judge is saying is that even opting-out of receiving spam isn't enough to "void the pre-existing relationship". So, the question is should there be a time limit on how quickly a company needs to remove you from a database? Some may argue that there should be some leeway, but if you're going to put a system in place to send out mass mailings, I don't see why you shouldn't also set up an automated system to immediately remove those who want off the list.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
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SPAM Killers
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Re: SPAM Killers
Would that be similar to the Napster Death Sentence imposed on Doctor Dre and Metallica?
the NDS isn't working: people are still buying way too many albums, ignoring Lars' flapping gums and, apparently, eagerly accepting the title of Potential Thief.
Yeah, I'd be all for a supervirus inflicted on evil spammers, IFF, like the death penalty, we can be sure it's only used vs spammers; hacker kids don't have a good reputation for avoiding power plays and getting all petty (ISS's 0-day announcements are always fun).
Either way, it'd be the first nod toward the Internet Governing the Planet, and not the other way around.
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