A SEATTLE man has become the first person to sue under a new law that
attempts to stem the flow of unsolicited commercial e-mail, or spam.
Adam Engst, author of computer books and an Internet newsletter, filed the
suit against WorldTouch Network, a Los Angeles company, for sending him more
than 100 unsolicited e-mails since the Washington state law came into effect on
11 June.
The statute makes it illegal to forge a return e-mail address—something
many spammers do to avoid having their own mailboxes flooded with complaints.
Engst alleges that WorldTouch’s spam included a forged address. If his suit is
successful, WorldTouch could be forced to pay him $500 for each of the
spams.
The spams advertised a computer program which would search the World Wide
Web, looking for valid e-mail addresses to which the user could also send spam.
Engst and his lawyer claim to have identified a man called Christopher Lee
Knight as the president of the company by calling a number included in the spam
to place orders. “As long as someone is looking for money, there should be a way
to find them,” Engst says.
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