Press Release

San Mateo County Firm Sues So. Calif. Outfits Over Unsolicited Commercial Email (UCE or spam)

Violation of California Anti-spam Laws Alleged

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Aug. 26 /Hypertouch Inc/ -- Unwanted and Illegal unsolicited commercial electronic messages are the subject of two small claims suits filed August 2, 2002 in San Mateo County Small Claims Court of California.

``It's a violation of California law to send an unsolicited electronic mail advertisement, otherwise known as UCE or `spam' to a recipient with whom the initiator does not have an existing business or personal relationship.'' explained Joe Wagner, President of Hypertouch Inc, a Redwood City-based Internet Service Provider. ``For almost a year, DEX and later Bidvantage sent spam after spam to our mail servers, in violation of our email policy and California law. Their spam also violated California law by not including the required `ADV:' at the beginning of their email subject lines''

Two suits were filed with Small Claims Court of San Mateo County:

• One naming DEX as the sole defendant,
• Another naming DEX and its "sister company" BidVantage as co-defendants.

Additional documents:

1. DEX's Motion for Change of Venue
2. Hypertouch's response to DEX's Motion for Change of Venue (PDF version, MS Word)
   Note: Motions for Change of Venue by Defendants were Denied
3. DEX's reply to Hypertouch's response to DEX's Motion for Change of Venue
4. Sample DEX spam (raw source)
5. Sample BidVantage spam (raw source) -- Note the use of the classic spammers' false and misleading 'Murk' disclaimer. Also take note on how the spam does not even comply with the requirements of that failed 1998 Senate anti-spam bill. Nice...