Joe Jobbed Lawyer Sues Spammers
from the good-for-him dept
A few years ago, I wrote about the experience of being joe jobbed, where spammers sent out a huge spam run using my email address. The practice has become much more common these days, but apparently a lawyer in New York figured he might as well do something about it. He's suing the spammers for "hijacking" his email address to send out stock promotion spam. He doesn't who know who the spammers are, so it's just been filed against various "John Does," but it will be worth seeing what happens in this case. If it goes anywhere, others may start suing over the same issue.
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man on the street has no hope
On the plus side he will learn to not be so promiscuous with his address but that only can protect you so far when you are trying to have a small business.
I hope this guy sets some precedent that will start to derail this obnoxious practice that dose nothing but step on people who really don’t deserve it.
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Re: man on the street has no hope
The only precedent he needs to set isn't a legal one. It's a precedent of time, money and determination.
From the cited article it looks like the plaintiff can use several laws, both federal and state.
The spam promoted the stock of a company incorporated and headquartered in Nevada.
The plaintiff can use some federal CAN-SPAM act provisions, any Nevada anti-spam laws that address fraud (as they wouldn't be preempted by federal law), as well as Nevada laws against fraud.
He can also use NY laws on those issues, as the NV company has clearly purposesly availed itself of NY law by (falsely) claining to send email from there.
He may also have cause of action under provisions of federal securities laws as well, as the spam was promoting a stock. He might throw in any NV and NY state and federal statutes for civil actions on libel and related misappropriation of identity for commercial purposes as well.
In short, he can throw the book at the company that hired the spammer. If he has the money, time and determination, he could wind up "owning" the people who hired the spam run even if the spammers cannot be found or identified. I wish him every success.
The scum who prey on people like your father deserve all the justice that the current laws can bring down on them, and more. I think even those who usually hate lawyers will root for this one.
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