Hunton & Williams Shuts Down Spammer
PR Newswire - March 31, 1998 15:12
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ATLANTA, March 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Hunton & Williams/Atlanta ("H&W")
attorney Pete Wellborn spearheaded the recent victory of EarthLink Network,
Inc., Pasadena, Calif., over Cyber Promotions, Inc., Philadelphia, the largest
and most notorious sender of unsolicited commercial e-mail, or "spam."
The resolution of this litigation included the entry of a $2 million
Consent Judgment against Cyber Promotions and a prohibition against the
further spamming of EarthLink members by Cyber Promotions President Sanford
Wallace or any affiliated company.
The victory represents the latest in a string of Internet-related
successes for Wellborn. "This is the final nail in Cyber Promotions' coffin
and effectively puts Cyber Promotions and Wallace out of the spamming
business," said Wellborn, who has served as EarthLink's lead litigator on
Technology and Internet-related matters for the past year-and-a-half.
"Earthlink is undaunted by the fact that it may well never collect the
judgment. The motivation throughout this lawsuit was the vindication of its
members' rights to a spam-free Internet," added Scott M. Hobby, head of the
Hunton & Williams Technology Group of which Wellborn is a member. "
In addition to the $2 million dollar Consent Judgment against Cyber
Promotions, the case resolution also included a settlement with Wallace by
which he will be personally liable for $1 million if he ever engages in any of
a number of categories of prohibited conduct, including:
* "spamming" EarthLink members;
* "spoofing," or including false reference to EarthLink in e-mails
to the users of other ISP's;
* "cloaking," or disguising the true "return address" of
any e-mails sent to EarthLink members; and
* the sale of any EarthLink e-mail addresses.
Wallace has also agreed to write a letter of apology to EarthLink and its
members. In the text of that letter, which was provided by Wallace as a part
of the settlement, Wallace states that Cyber Promotion's continuing legal
battles, highlighted by Wellborn's "diligent prosecution" of the EarthLink
litigation, has "eliminated even the possibility of continuing financial
viability for Wallace's and Cyber's business operations" and has essentially
"put Cyber out of the spamming business."
The Cyber Promotions win comes on the heels of Wellborn's victory last
month over another well-known spammer, David Seiver, a/k/a "Mr. E-mail," in
which EarthLink won an $871,000 judgment.
In addition, in a case of first impression in California decided in
October 1997, Wellborn convinced the Los Angeles County Superior Court to
exercise jurisdiction over a Florida-based spammer whose only contacts with
California were the transmission of e-mails through EarthLink's California
computers. The decision represented an important judicial acknowledgment of
the minimum level of forum-related contacts required for the exercise of
jurisdiction over an Internet transgressor.
"It has been a very rewarding experience to assist EarthLink in its war to
ensure that the Internet fulfills its potential to society as a tool of
education and communication," said Wellborn.
EarthLink Network, Inc. is one of the world's largest Internet service
providers. Headquartered in Pasadena, Calif., EarthLink provides local access
to thousands of communities from more than 1,115 POPs in North America and 42
internationally.
Wellborn, a Macon, Ga. native, is a litigator in Hunton & Williams'
Atlanta office with a primary practice focus on technology litigation.
Wellborn has an undergraduate degree in Information & Computer Science from
Georgia Tech and represents a number of companies in technology, Internet, and
computer-related matters.
Hunton & Williams, an international firm founded in Richmond, Va., is the
largest firm headquartered in the Southeast. The Atlanta office of Hunton &
Williams opened in 1988 with three partners and has since grown to be the 15th
largest in the city.
The Atlanta office performs significant legal work for a number of
publicly held companies, five regulated utilities (electric power,
telecommunication, and interstate pipeline), one of the five largest banks in
the United States, several healthcare companies, a number of Fortune 500
companies involved in major Superfund and toxic tort litigation, several
governmental agencies, agricultural companies, chemical producers, and
machinery manufacturers. The firm also represents companies in the areas of
technology, systems integration, software, Internet, Y2K (Year 2000) issues
and electronic commerce.
SOURCE Hunton & Williams/Atlanta
/CONTACT: Pete Wellborn, Hunton & Williams, 404-888-4000, or
Mat Honan or Harry Hollingsworth, Hollingsworth, Colborne & Associates,
404-577-3856/ |
