A lawsuit was filed on December 12, 1996 in a federal court in Pennsylvania under section 227 of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.   This federal law makes it illegal for a person to use any telephone facsimile machine, computer, or other device to send an unsolicited commercial advertisement, also known as "spamming."

In the Pennsylvania case, the defendants, an Internet service provider (ISP) and two of its employees allegedly sent an email advertisement in violation of the law.  The plaintiffs are another ISP and two of its subscribers who received the email.  The complaint alleges that the defendants sent three unsolicited email messages to all users of the plaintiff ISP.  The messages advertised the defendant ISP and encouraged current users of the plaintiff ISP to switch to the defendant's service.   The plaintiffs seek statutory damages for more than 6,000 email messages sent.

The defendants have filed a motion to dismiss plaintiffs' claims, asserting in essence that it is not a "person" under the Act, but rather, that it is similar to a post office and not the intended recipient of the email.  The Act provides for a private right of action by a citizen and an award of actual monetary loss or $500, whichever is greater.  Further, if the court finds that the spammer willfully or knowingly violated the law, the court can treble damages.

1997 Robin D. Gross
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