Serial Anti-Spam Lawsuit Filer Loses Appeal... And His Possessions
from the time-to-get-a-job dept
Back when CAN SPAM was passed, one of the (many) parts that annoyed anti-spam fighters was that the law was quite clearly limited in who could bring lawsuits. It was basically designed so that only the government or ISPs could bring lawsuits -- not individuals. This was done on purpose, as lots of marketing companies freaked out that they'd end up dealing with constant spam lawsuits from people upset about receiving their marketing messages. However, some anti-spammers worked on ways to get around this by setting themselves up as "ISPs," though only for the purpose of trying to sue spammers. This strategy backfired. A couple of years ago, one of the most fervent supporters of using this trick (his only "job" was filing these lawsuits against spammers) lost his case, and the court even told him to pay $110k to the firm he had sued.He appealed, and the appeals court came down even harder on the guy for clearly abusing the law, pointing out that he was clearly a professional litigant, and not someone running a real ISP. But, perhaps even more fascinating is that the guy, James Gordon, didn't just lose the lawsuit, it appears he lost most of his possessions as well. Remember that ruling telling him to pay the $110k to Virtumundo? He refused. The company sent the debt to a collections agency, but told Gordon they'd call off the collections agency if he dropped the appeal. Gordon didn't:
When Virtumundo's collections lawyer showed up at Gordon's house with a moving van and a sheriff, Virtumundo again offered to stop its pursuit of Gordon's assets if he would drop his appeal, and he refused again, according to Newman.As much as I thank anti-spam activists for trying to stomp out spam, that doesn't mean they get to ignore what the law allows, and set up what was effectively a professional anti-spam litigation service.
Virtumundo's collections agency then cleared out Gordon's house, according to Newman.
He added that after seizing the contents of Gordon's home, Virtumundo offered to return Gordon's belongings if he would drop his appeal and again, Gordon refused.
![Hide This Hide this](https://ii.techdirt.com/s/t/i/topclose.png)
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.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: anti-spam, can spam, isps, james gordon, lawsuits, spam
Companies: virtumundo
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Yeah, but...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Learn something new every day...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Mmmm
Mmmm, spam cereal...sounds like southern cuisine...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Mmmm
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Mmmm
Well, actually Hormel is based in Minnesota, I believe. They produce a ton of spam...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Mmmm
Oh dh, your funnier than finding Lenny Bruce dead with his works still stuck in his groin.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
I can't really feel sorry for the guy, even though I support his cause 100%.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Can't feel sorry for this guy
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Very sad that it doesn't. As much as I like what this guy stood for, it is nice to see a lawyer get beat down for abusing the system.
You want disparities in the system, just look at rich people breaking laws compared to people like Ms Thomas. Who gets the example made of them? Right, not the rich.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
According to the law, they have the right to take all his stuff and sell them for money. If it stays at that I have no problem. My problem is the company's lawyer repeatingly trying to use this as leverage to stop the guy's appeal.
I admit I don't know if this has legal basis, but it just sounds wrong and feels like blackmailing.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Remember, not only did he start this mess, he already lost the case, and his appeal was denied.
Virtumundo's basically saying "You lost the case and the court says you owe us money. But we'll forget this whole thing if you stop being a pest."
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
It seems like "settling out of court" to me. This kind of thing happens all the time and I am surprised that Virtumundo was being so kind to him to make all these offers.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
I see some similarities in that they are professional litigants who are abusing the law.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
If thats not illegal, then I've got some fresh internets to sell you.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Go ahead and do this. If the government wants to protect pieces of shit like Virtumundo, then we have to do what we have to do.
But...
Don't be an idiot. If you are going to pose as an ISP, don't "pose"... *BECOME* a legitimate ISP. It really doesn't take much to provide internet access to a few people (insiders sympathetic to the cause?) Once you have a legitimate business, retain a good lawyer for the inevitable challenge to your legitimacy, and have your paperwork in order. Be ready and able to prove that you are a legitimate business. They can't invalidate you because you aren't huge.
Now...Rip Virtumundo a new asshole.
By the way, Virtumundo is a skank.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Wha??
And just for the record, the people who run Virtumonde (the virus people, right?) need to be taken out and put down like a rabid dog. IF this guy can get his entire life ripped from him for this, then by the same token the Virtumonde people need to be removed from the planet permanently for the scumbag, vile, evil crap they have foisted onto people.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Some times you just have to...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Some times you just have to...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Some times you just have to...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Some times you just have to...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Another Pro Antispammer about to get his....
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Another Pro Antispammer about to get his....
Are you just another spammer who lost in court to Dan?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Clearly, Gordon didn't place the Claymores properly.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Typical nonjustice from our court system
CAN-SPAM like most laws is just more theater from our worthless legislators.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Clarification
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Clarification
http://privacy.virtumundo.com/spyware_issues.html
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Got Can Spam?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
professional antispam litigation service?
I don't really understand this ruling. They are admitting to being spammers, so what is the problem?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Original ruling difficult to understand...
Description of the Clean Hands Doctrine:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unclean_hands
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Thumbs up
Thumbs up for Virtumondo cleaning him out. Sends a clear message to the rest of the anti-spam activist community.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Is it just me?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
SPAM
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Virtumundo
[ link to this | view in chronology ]