CONSUMER NEWS    RECALLS    COMPLAINT FORM    SCAM ALERTS  


Complain about a product or service

Small Claims Guide | Class Actions | Lemon Law | FAQ | Resources | Newsletters | Spanish
Automotive    Education    Electronics    Family    Finance    Health    Homeowners    Shopping    Travel   
NEWS   Latest |  Archives |  Auto |  Cells, etc. |  Computers |  Financial |  Health |  Homeowners |  Parents |  Privacy |  Scams |  Seniors |  Travel

Consumer News

September 6 2008

Recent Recalls & Safety Alerts



FREE CONSUMER NEWSLETTERS

The Daily Consumer
Afternoons M-F

Sign up now!


Consumer News & Alerts
Every Sunday

Sign up now!


Knowledge is free.
Knowledge is power.




Anti-Spam Suits Add Up in Washington



December 17, 2001
Earn money at home reading spam. That might be Bennett Haselton's new battle cry. The Bellevue, WA, man earned $2,000 in small claims court recently after suing four people who sent him deceptive e-mail solicitations that are illegal in Washington state.

The judge found in Haselton's favor in four separate cases for $500 apiece. None of the defendants bothered to show up.

The four cases all involved spam in which the sender used a false e-mail address in the "from" field, prohibited in Washington. One was a chain letter asking for five dollars from an amateur in Indiana who used his real name. Two were from professional spamming companies hawking their services. And the last was a company offering seminars on how to make money on the stock market.

Haselton started filing suits in small claims court in June, immediately after the law was upheld. He has about 30 other cases winding through the system. His costs for each case consist of the filing fee, $21. No attorney is required in small claims.

Although he was victorious in these four specific cases, Haselton said it isn't as easy as it looks. Some judges told him small claims court was the wrong venue, and others told him the law only allows him to recover damages, of which there were none.

Haselton is not the only one papering the courts with spamming suit. Martin Palmer claims to have collected over $18,000 from spammers, mostly through out-of-court settlements.

Bruce Miller, a free-lance writer from Seattle, was the first person to collect money under the new law, through an out-of-court settlement in 1998. Since then he's collected $4,000 in total, and has set up a Web site to show others how.

One important source of assistance has been the Washington State Attorney General's office, which, besides defending the constitutionality of the law, has set up a Web site on how to fight spam.

Although 19 states have anti-spam laws of some kind, only a few of them allow private citizens to sue in small claims court as they can in Washington state.

The spambusters movement is largely based on an older effort to fight so-called "junk faxes."

Under a little-known federal law passed in 1991, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, it is illegal to fax an advertisement without permission, anywhere in the United States. Under the law, those who receive a fax can sue the company advertised (not the junk-faxing company) for up to $1,500 in small claims court.

Rodney Joffe, a marketing executive from Phoenix who got fed up with junk faxes, has won nine junk fax cases in small claims court this year, all but one of the judgments for $1,500. He has five more cases pending.

For information on how to file, see the Junkfaxes Web site.

Consumer News

September 6 2008

Recent Recalls & Safety Alerts



FREE CONSUMER NEWSLETTERS

The Daily Consumer
Afternoons M-F

Sign up now!


Consumer News & Alerts
Every Sunday

Sign up now!


Knowledge is free.
Knowledge is power.



Back to the top | Consumer News



Advertisement


Home | Complaint Form | News | Recalls | FAQ |
Consumer Resources | Small Claims Guide | Lemon Law | Newsletter | Contact Us
Advertise With Us | Testimonials | Newsroom | RSS Feeds |


Terms of Use Your use of this site constitutes acceptance of the Terms of Use

Advertisements on this site are placed and controlled by outside advertising networks. ConsumerAffairs.com does not evaluate or endorse the products and services advertised. See the FAQ for more information.

Company Response Welcome If complaints about your company appear on our site, we welcome your response. Please see the Response Form for more information.

For more information, see the FAQ and privacy policy. The information on this Web site is general in nature and is not intended as a substitute for competent legal advice.  ConsumerAffairs.com Inc. makes no representation as to the accuracy of the information herein provided and assumes no liability for any damages or loss arising from the use thereof. 

Copyright © 2003-2008 ConsumerAffairs.com Inc.  All Rights Reserved.    The contents of this site may not be republished, reprinted, rewritten or recirculated without written permission.