First State Spam Suit Settled For $25,000
The Massachusetts attorney general settled the first state lawsuit brought under the CAN-SPAM Act.Weston, FL-based DC Enterprises agreed last week to pay $25,000 to settle the charges. Massachusetts attorney general Thomas Reilly brought suit against DC Enterprises and its operator, William Carson, in July, accusing him of sending thousands of fraudulent e-mail messages marketing cut-rate mortgages. The suit, filed under the CAN-SPAM Act and Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act, alleged the messages did not have a working unsubscribe option or notice stating that they were advertisements. The attorney general's office also alleged that the messages used fake sender addresses to evade spam filters.
Under terms of the CAN-SPAM Act, Carson could have been fined $250 per message up to $2 million. The settlement prohibits Carson from violating either the CAN-SPAM Act or Massachusetts' consumer protection laws.
