Judge Dismisses AOL Spam Lawsuit - GoFuckYourself.com

MattO · 12-31-2003, 12:07 PM

http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB20031231S0004

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by America Online (AOL) against a group of Floridians the company accused of conspiring to spam its users, lawyers for the defendants announced late Tuesday.

The case, which was dismissed last week by Chief Judge Claude Hilton of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, centered around claims by AOL that a number of Florida-based computer technicians conspired with others to send bulk e-mail through AOL's system, said lawyers with the Virginia-based firm Albo & Oblon in a statement.

Hilton ruled AOL had failed to demonstrate that ?Virginia had jurisdiction over the Florida defendants simply because AOL's business resides in Virginia and the alleged bulk emails had gone through Virginia,? said Albo & Oblon.

In the ruling, Hilton also said that asserting jurisdiction over the defendants would violate their right to due process, and that merely enabling someone to transmit material over the Internet was insufficient to permit such jurisdiction.

In a statement, AOL said the decision was based on a ?mere technicality,? and left open the option to resubmit the lawsuit -- first filed in April, 2003 -- in Virginia, or file in Florida.

AOL has been aggressively pursuing spammers, which it says flood its network with over two billion messages per day, in court. It has also been instrumental in getting tough anti-spam laws passed in its home state of Virginia, and has been beefing up its anti-spam filtering tools for its 35 million users.

In April, AOL filed five lawsuits against spammers in Florida, Washington state, and Maryland who it claimed had repeatedly sent large numbers of junk mail messages -- shilling everything from health care products and software to college degrees and pornography -- using techniques designed to circumvent the online service's filtering systems.

MattO · 12-31-2003, 12:09 PM

sorry, I'm bored today... my email is down and I'm waiting for it to come up so I can finish my work that I'm so behind on.. anyone that's waiting for me to get with them don't worry I'm here

EZRhino · 12-31-2003, 12:10 PM

Fuck AOL

latinasojourn · 12-31-2003, 01:11 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by MattO
http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB20031231S0004

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by America Online (AOL) against a group of Floridians the company accused of conspiring to spam its users, lawyers for the defendants announced late Tuesday.

The case, which was dismissed last week by Chief Judge Claude Hilton of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, centered around claims by AOL that a number of Florida-based computer technicians conspired with others to send bulk e-mail through AOL's system, said lawyers with the Virginia-based firm Albo & Oblon in a statement.

Hilton ruled AOL had failed to demonstrate that ?Virginia had jurisdiction over the Florida defendants simply because AOL's business resides in Virginia and the alleged bulk emails had gone through Virginia,? said Albo & Oblon.

In the ruling, Hilton also said that asserting jurisdiction over the defendants would violate their right to due process, and that merely enabling someone to transmit material over the Internet was insufficient to permit such jurisdiction.

In a statement, AOL said the decision was based on a ?mere technicality,? and left open the option to resubmit the lawsuit -- first filed in April, 2003 -- in Virginia, or file in Florida.

AOL has been aggressively pursuing spammers, which it says flood its network with over two billion messages per day, in court. It has also been instrumental in getting tough anti-spam laws passed in its home state of Virginia, and has been beefing up its anti-spam filtering tools for its 35 million users.

In April, AOL filed five lawsuits against spammers in Florida, Washington state, and Maryland who it claimed had repeatedly sent large numbers of junk mail messages -- shilling everything from health care products and software to college degrees and pornography -- using techniques designed to circumvent the online service's filtering systems.

Matt0, great find.

this ruling may have important implications for current out-of-california defendants in the acacia issue.

if anyone knows these defendants this thread should be forwarded to them IMMEDIATELY so their legal advisers can review it.

in my view the key phrase is:

"In the ruling, Hilton also said that asserting jurisdiction over the defendants would violate their right to due process, and that merely enabling someone to transmit material over the Internet was insufficient to permit such jurisdiction."

DavePlays · 12-31-2003, 01:19 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by latinasojourn

Matt0, great find.

this ruling may have important implications for current out-of-california defendants in the acacia issue.

if anyone knows these defendants this thread should be forwarded to them IMMEDIATELY so their legal advisers can review it.

in my view the key phrase is:

"In the ruling, Hilton also said that asserting jurisdiction over the defendants would violate their right to due process, and that merely enabling someone to transmit material over the Internet was insufficient to permit such jurisdiction."

you have what seems like a valid point there....

Tytan · 12-31-2003, 01:21 PM

thats good news

OzMan · 12-31-2003, 01:26 PM

Yes we were very lucky here.

My girlfriend Paris says this is the last time Uncle Claude is gonna help me out. She told me last night, "Either you stop spamming AOL or I am outta here"

I thought about it long and hard and I realized she is 100% correct. I start at Wendy's on Monday.

pornjudge · 12-31-2003, 01:34 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by MattO
http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB20031231S0004

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by America Online (AOL) against a group of Floridians the company accused of conspiring to spam its users, lawyers for the defendants announced late Tuesday.

The case, which was dismissed last week by Chief Judge Claude Hilton of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, centered around claims by AOL that a number of Florida-based computer technicians conspired with others to send bulk e-mail through AOL's system, said lawyers with the Virginia-based firm Albo & Oblon in a statement.

Hilton ruled AOL had failed to demonstrate that ?Virginia had jurisdiction over the Florida defendants simply because AOL's business resides in Virginia and the alleged bulk emails had gone through Virginia,? said Albo & Oblon.

In the ruling, Hilton also said that asserting jurisdiction over the defendants would violate their right to due process, and that merely enabling someone to transmit material over the Internet was insufficient to permit such jurisdiction.

In a statement, AOL said the decision was based on a ?mere technicality,? and left open the option to resubmit the lawsuit -- first filed in April, 2003 -- in Virginia, or file in Florida.

AOL has been aggressively pursuing spammers, which it says flood its network with over two billion messages per day, in court. It has also been instrumental in getting tough anti-spam laws passed in its home state of Virginia, and has been beefing up its anti-spam filtering tools for its 35 million users.

In April, AOL filed five lawsuits against spammers in Florida, Washington state, and Maryland who it claimed had repeatedly sent large numbers of junk mail messages -- shilling everything from health care products and software to college degrees and pornography -- using techniques designed to circumvent the online service's filtering systems.

AOL are the fuckin spammers, mother fuckers used to send me their shitty fuckin CD every fuckin month... Big part of AOL success they spam the shit out of people also...

latinasojourn · 12-31-2003, 01:35 PM

if you read the legal brief on the most recent lawsuits, acacia is asserting that defendant "infringers" caused their content to be made available to the specific jurisdiction of california where the plantiff is located, and because of that, acacia had a cause of action.

it seems to me, that this judge has just blown that out of the water.

it sets precedent.

AND IT IS VERY FUCKING IMPORTANT TO THE ACACIA CASE RIGHT NOW!

imho.

CAHEK · 12-31-2003, 01:35 PM

AOL cannot get spammers

skillfull · 12-31-2003, 01:38 PM

fuck aol
fuck acacia

libertad !

latinasojourn · 12-31-2003, 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by CAHEK
AOL cannot get spammers

for just a second forget "spammers".

look at the big picture.

this may be the silver bullet to defeat acacia.

JSA Matt · 12-31-2003, 01:55 PM

Saw this last night, made me smile

crockett · 12-31-2003, 02:58 PM

WTF I thought AOL was a pay for spam ISP... I mean you log on and get 2 or 3 messages trying to sell you something... I can't see why anyone would pay for their service

hostey_com · 12-31-2003, 03:04 PM

AOL keep trying...

GonePhishing · 12-31-2003, 03:30 PM

JMM · 12-31-2003, 04:21 PM

Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but this is apples and oranges.

The AOL case involved state law.

The Acacia case involves FEDERAL patent law.

Jurisdiction issues such as this have no effect on the Acacia case.

latinasojourn · 12-31-2003, 04:34 PM

"a FEDERAL judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by America Online (AOL) against a group of Floridians the company accused of conspiring to spam its users, lawyers for the defendants announced late Tuesday."

latinasojourn · 12-31-2003, 04:42 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by JMM
Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but this is apples and oranges.

The AOL case involved state law.

The Acacia case involves FEDERAL patent law.

Jurisdiction issues such as this have no effect on the Acacia case.

JMM, i regard you as one of the sharpest operators in this biz.

i know you are close to this issue, please evaluate it again.

i'm not saying that this ruling is spot-on applicable to the acacia case, i'm saying that it may throw a monkey wrench into the acacia tactic of trying to sue defendants outside of california because surfers can reach their websites in california.

JMM · 12-31-2003, 04:58 PM

Thanks for the kind words.

Here is the difference.

AOL, a Virginia company, was trying to sue residents of Florida, for violating a VIRGINIA state law. You are allowed to sue people in FEDERAL court for violations of state law.

In the Acacia case, Acacia is suing companies in Federal court for violation of Federal law. Jurisdictional issues, such as the one raised in the AOL case, don't apply.

Whether your servers, or customers, or whatever, pass through California, doesn't matter, that is not at issue. Acacia is claiming federal patent infringement. The suits were filed in Federal court in the court closest to where Acacia's corporate office is. Unfortunately, the court system does not place the burden on the plaintiff to sue each defendant in the federal court closest to where they live or do business. That is one of the reasons that we have a federal court system.

Swanks · 12-31-2003, 05:34 PM

Yea thats some goood news.

MattO · 12-31-2003, 08:02 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by JMM
Thanks for the kind words.

Here is the difference.

AOL, a Virginia company, was trying to sue residents of Florida, for violating a VIRGINIA state law. You are allowed to sue people in FEDERAL court for violations of state law.

In the Acacia case, Acacia is suing companies in Federal court for violation of Federal law. Jurisdictional issues, such as the one raised in the AOL case, don't apply.

Whether your servers, or customers, or whatever, pass through California, doesn't matter, that is not at issue. Acacia is claiming federal patent infringement. The suits were filed in Federal court in the court closest to where Acacia's corporate office is. Unfortunately, the court system does not place the burden on the plaintiff to sue each defendant in the federal court closest to where they live or do business. That is one of the reasons that we have a federal court system.

good essplination

$5 submissions · 12-31-2003, 08:07 PM

Its a personal Jurisdiction question. If they file it where the defendants reside the problem would be fixed.

Mr. Marks · 01-03-2004, 10:32 PM

Good news. Too much spam hysteria. What the fuck.

12-31-2003, 12:07 PM	#1
MattO The O is for Oohhh Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: AUSTIN TEJAS Posts: 10,861	Judge Dismisses AOL Spam Lawsuit http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB20031231S0004 A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by America Online (AOL) against a group of Floridians the company accused of conspiring to spam its users, lawyers for the defendants announced late Tuesday. The case, which was dismissed last week by Chief Judge Claude Hilton of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, centered around claims by AOL that a number of Florida-based computer technicians conspired with others to send bulk e-mail through AOL's system, said lawyers with the Virginia-based firm Albo & Oblon in a statement. Hilton ruled AOL had failed to demonstrate that ?Virginia had jurisdiction over the Florida defendants simply because AOL's business resides in Virginia and the alleged bulk emails had gone through Virginia,? said Albo & Oblon. In the ruling, Hilton also said that asserting jurisdiction over the defendants would violate their right to due process, and that merely enabling someone to transmit material over the Internet was insufficient to permit such jurisdiction. In a statement, AOL said the decision was based on a ?mere technicality,? and left open the option to resubmit the lawsuit -- first filed in April, 2003 -- in Virginia, or file in Florida. AOL has been aggressively pursuing spammers, which it says flood its network with over two billion messages per day, in court. It has also been instrumental in getting tough anti-spam laws passed in its home state of Virginia, and has been beefing up its anti-spam filtering tools for its 35 million users. In April, AOL filed five lawsuits against spammers in Florida, Washington state, and Maryland who it claimed had repeatedly sent large numbers of junk mail messages -- shilling everything from health care products and software to college degrees and pornography -- using techniques designed to circumvent the online service's filtering systems.

12-31-2003, 01:21 PM	#6
Tytan Too lazy to set a custom title Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Somewhere over the rainbow Posts: 1,391	thats good news __________________ Adult Webmaster/Pharmacy/Mortgage/Casino/General opt-in email lists for sale - full data ---------REFERENCES AVAILABLE----------- ------------------------------------------------ Adult opt-in bases for sale icq@261453175

12-31-2003, 01:35 PM	#10
CAHEK C.C.C.P. Industry Role: Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Novorossiya Posts: 7,043	AOL cannot get spammers __________________ Pharma from True-Meds. High converting shop in Europe and USA, fast payouts via BTC !!!

12-31-2003, 01:38 PM	#11
skillfull Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Quebec Calisse Posts: 4,716	fuck aol fuck acacia libertad ! __________________ mind at underdark dot cc SEO Analyst Thunder-Ball.net - Member

12-31-2003, 02:58 PM	#14
crockett in a van by the river Industry Role: Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 76,806	WTF I thought AOL was a pay for spam ISP... I mean you log on and get 2 or 3 messages trying to sell you something... I can't see why anyone would pay for their service __________________ In November, you can vote for America's next president or its first dictator.

12-31-2003, 12:09 PM	#2
MattO The O is for Oohhh Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: AUSTIN TEJAS Posts: 10,861	sorry, I'm bored today... my email is down and I'm waiting for it to come up so I can finish my work that I'm so behind on.. anyone that's waiting for me to get with them don't worry I'm here

12-31-2003, 12:10 PM	#3
EZRhino Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: couch Posts: 6,258	Fuck AOL

12-31-2003, 01:26 PM	#7
OzMan Confirmed User Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Los Begas Posts: 9,162	Yes we were very lucky here. My girlfriend Paris says this is the last time Uncle Claude is gonna help me out. She told me last night, "Either you stop spamming AOL or I am outta here" I thought about it long and hard and I realized she is 100% correct. I start at Wendy's on Monday.

12-31-2003, 01:35 PM	#9
latinasojourn Confirmed User Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 3,191	if you read the legal brief on the most recent lawsuits, acacia is asserting that defendant "infringers" caused their content to be made available to the specific jurisdiction of california where the plantiff is located, and because of that, acacia had a cause of action. it seems to me, that this judge has just blown that out of the water. it sets precedent. AND IT IS VERY FUCKING IMPORTANT TO THE ACACIA CASE RIGHT NOW! imho.

12-31-2003, 01:55 PM	#13
JSA Matt So Fucking Banned Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 5,464	Saw this last night, made me smile

12-31-2003, 03:04 PM	#15
hostey_com Confirmed User Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: I can see the Ocean from here... Posts: 509	AOL keep trying... __________________ Why search Google when you can search Thongle?

12-31-2003, 03:30 PM	#16
GonePhishing Confirmed User Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Blah Posts: 2,474	Wow! __________________ If Biff Fucks My Mom... I Might Never Be Born...

12-31-2003, 04:21 PM	#17
JMM Confirmed User Join Date: Apr 2001 Posts: 1,755	Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but this is apples and oranges. The AOL case involved state law. The Acacia case involves FEDERAL patent law. Jurisdiction issues such as this have no effect on the Acacia case.

12-31-2003, 04:34 PM	#18
latinasojourn Confirmed User Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 3,191	"a FEDERAL judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by America Online (AOL) against a group of Floridians the company accused of conspiring to spam its users, lawyers for the defendants announced late Tuesday."

12-31-2003, 04:58 PM	#20
JMM Confirmed User Join Date: Apr 2001 Posts: 1,755	Thanks for the kind words. Here is the difference. AOL, a Virginia company, was trying to sue residents of Florida, for violating a VIRGINIA state law. You are allowed to sue people in FEDERAL court for violations of state law. In the Acacia case, Acacia is suing companies in Federal court for violation of Federal law. Jurisdictional issues, such as the one raised in the AOL case, don't apply. Whether your servers, or customers, or whatever, pass through California, doesn't matter, that is not at issue. Acacia is claiming federal patent infringement. The suits were filed in Federal court in the court closest to where Acacia's corporate office is. Unfortunately, the court system does not place the burden on the plaintiff to sue each defendant in the federal court closest to where they live or do business. That is one of the reasons that we have a federal court system.

12-31-2003, 08:07 PM	#23
$5 submissions I help you SUCCEED Industry Role: Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: The Pearl of the Orient Seas Posts: 32,195	Its a personal Jurisdiction question. If they file it where the defendants reside the problem would be fixed. __________________ Need a NON-ADULT income stream? We build your YOUTUBE CHANNEL for only $20 per video! For Hire: $3/hour or $400 per month Marketing Specialist Virtual Assistants

01-03-2004, 10:32 PM	#24
Mr. Marks Confirmed User Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Wherever I want Posts: 7,517	Good news. Too much spam hysteria. What the fuck.