That’s right…$11 BILLION.
CIS Internet Services, an ISP in the small town of Clinton Iowa, recently won a settlement from James McCalla of Florida who was found guilty of sending over 250 million unsolicited e-mails through the ISP’s network.
Under the state law at the time, each illegal e-mail entitled CIS Internet Services to $10 in fines. The companies listed in the spam messages were also fined – to the tune of $1 billion.
The lawsuit noted that the defendants “falsely and illegally represented that their e-mails originated from CIS or from some other user of the ‘cis.net’ domain.” This was an attempt to disguise the true source of the e-mails – and therby prevent any complaints.
CIS acknowledged that they are unlikely to receive any of the settlement money, but they felt that the outcome would be a wakeup call to spammers.
The only way to prevent spamming is to hit em’ where it hurts – the pocketbook. We already have a “Do Not Call” list and it won’t be long before spamming becomes illegal in the U.S.
Source: Quad City Times
Posted by Sean
