28 wins, and counting
Secretary of
State Websites
In some cases, the entities listed below are the actual senders. In some cases, the companies below advertise in spam sent by their contracted third party agents.
I use the term “principal” on my website not to mean A is a CEO, President, Vice President, Secretary, Director, etc. of B. Rather, as discussed on the “Spam and the Law” page, I use the term “principal” in the context of agent-principal liability, which says that the principal is liable for the [unlawful] actions of the agent. In the world of spamming, “agent” could mean either that A “actively” hired B to spam on its behalf, or A operates an affiliate program and “passively” allowed B to sign up by click-click-clicking through a web-based form agreement. It doesn’t really matter which; liability still flows “uphill” from agent to principal.
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SUPERIOR AND FEDERAL LAWSUITS |
Subscriberbase and Friends
Five spamming companies all operating out of the same address in Columbia, South Carolina: Subscriberbase Inc., Subscriberbase Holdings Inc., Consumer Research Corporation Inc., Free Slide Inc., and Involve Media Inc. I'm suing all five, and since domain names and servers seem to be registered to each other, there's a conspiracy cause of action too. Bad, bad spammers. At times Subscriberbase sent as many as 30-50 spams in a single day, with various elements of falsified/deceptive headers. Also named are a few of their affiliates, including E-Track Media Corp. of Boca Raton, Florida; Remedy Media LLC of Irvine, CA; S-Infotech Inc. of Boca Raton, Florida; DQ Media of Newport Beach, CA; and Small Cap Investor of Delray Beach, Florida. I've received almost 4,000 spams, so do the math. Click here to read the Second Amended Complaint.
As an aside, a few years ago a Virginia court found that Subscriberbase was sending spam with forged header information to people who never opted in.
And in April 2008, Subscriberbase settled a lawsuit from the Washington Attorney General, primary in regard to advertising things as free that aren't free. According to the consent decree, Subscriberbase is prohibited from advertising any "free" promotions to Washington residents and has to modify its websites to state that Washington residents can't participate, it has to make restitution to the consumers who spent money to get the "free" items, it has to pay civil penalties of $350K ($295K deferred) and $69K attorney fees, and it's on the hook for a whopping $25K per violation going forward. Ouch.
Trancos Inc. dba CoregMedia.com dba USAProductsOnline.com
Eight spams last summer, from eight different domain names, all of which were privately registered. False statements in the body of the spam too, like that I signed up from a particular IP address in Indiana. The body of the spams only identify the sender as USAProductsOnline.com, which of course is privately registered too, and an address that turns out to be a branch of The UPS Store in Los Angeles. I subpoenaed the store, and learned that the box was rented to a Lewis J. Wright Jr., claiming an address that turns out to be CoregMedia's Pacific Palisades location. CoregMedia is really Trancos. Trancos claims to be a network... but they're also a direct spammer too. After fairly extensive conversations, Trancos decided it didn't do anything wrong. I think otherwise. Click here to read the complaint. Also named as defendants:
eHarmony.com of Pasadena, CA
Quinstreet Inc. dba FindTheRightSchool.info of Foster City, CA
CashOnlineAmerica.com LLC, AffiliateNetwork.com LLC, and AffiliateNetwork.com Marketing LLC dba RentersCashAdvance.com of New York, NY
Strategic Financial Publishing Inc. dba SurveyAdventure.com of Forteville, IN
Amanda Greiner
Ms. Greiner created a fake business name ("Madd Roi LLC") and used multiple domain names -- all of which were registered to fake people, business, and addresses -- to send her spam. But I tracked her down.
Startup Consultants LLC et al
Darren Cleveland is the registered agent and principal officer of Startup Consultants LLC (also dba TheAdDoctors.com) and RDC Consulting Inc. Gregoire Gasparini was his partner in crime. They registered multiple domain names in the name of a nonexistent entity, IRL Technet Ltd., at an address that turned out to be an Irish Pub. They also don't check the P.O. Box that appears in the body of the spams. Naturally, they're all in Florida. They did a fairly good job of hiding themselves, but several of their own advertisers gave them up. Click here to read the complaint. Also named as defendants:
Free-CD Software.com Inc. of Flagstaff, AZ (whose attorneys told me I have no case... we'll see about that)
TravelFleaMarket.com Inc. and Robert Phillips of Oceanside, NY (who, with these spams, violated a previous consent decree not to send me unlawful spam)
CoverClicks and Friends
CoverClicks Media Inc., CoverClicks LLC, AffiliateNetwork.com LLC, AffiliateNetwork.com Marketing LLC, MyTruePromotions LLC, and WinHundred LLC. All intertwined companies, advertising through third-party spammers/affiliates. Some of the subject lines were deceptive, some of the sender names were deceptive, some of the sender email addresses were falsified, some of the spammers sent spam from multiple domain names, some spams had forged mailserver information, some sending domain names were falsely registered, and some falsified the recipient name. Defendants ignored my letter, and they had every opportunity to avoid this litigation, but did nothing, to the point where I had to file suit.
Unknown Spammer dba "Jambo Jack"
This spammer sent dozens of spams from dozens of domain names, all of which were falsely registered. NameCheap.com is the reseller for the registrar Enom.com. NameCheap finally, after threats of legal action, removed the Whoisguard privacy protection, but that's not quite the same thing as identifying its licensee (the actual spammer), which it is required to do pursuant to the ICANN-Registrar Accreditation Agreement, paragraph 3.7.7.3, otherwise it accepts all liability. So, it looks like NameCheap will be sued, along with "Jambo Jack" as a Doe defendant, and all of the advertisers:
NameCheap.com, hiding its real address via a box at The UPS Store in Westchester, CA, and its rude owner Richard Kirkendall
AER Investments Corporation dba SurveyRewardsCenter.com of Boca Raton, FL and its owner, Warren Rustin
ConsumerBargainGiveaways LLC dba OpinionResearchPanel.com of Evanston, Illinois and its principal Jeff Zweben
Find Your Customers Inc. dba Secure-Cash.net of Austin, TX and Carlsbad, CA
Focus Interactive Inc. dba Iwon.com of White Plans, NY
Global Travel International Inc. dba GlobalTravel.com of Maitland, FL
Insweb Corp. and Insweb Insurance Services Inc. dba Insweb.com of Gold River, CA
TrueBeginnings LLC dba True.com of Irving, TX
WomensCashAlliance.com of Burlington, VT
DSG Direct et al.
DSG Direct Inc. of Bonita Springs, FL appears to have been created from the old Evo Clix Inc. and Your-Info Inc., both also in Florida – big shock there. I unsubscribed five times from Evo Clix, back when I naively thought that might actually work to stop the spam. (To be precise, I unsubscribed via email, weblink, and certified letters to Evo Clix and its registered agent.) DSG's attorney dumped them, and I guess they didn't think it was necessary to find another one. Oops, bad call. Judgment entered for Plaintiff.
Adult Action Cam
I received over 1,100 spams between October 2005 and May 2006 from Adult Action Cam and/or its affiliates. Various elements of false headers: Fake sender names, fake sender email addresses, deceptive subject lines, and fake date/time stamps. Also, multiple violations of the California Consumers Legal Remedies Act, including false representations that membership in Adult Action Cam is free, false representations as to the size of Adult Action Cam's membership, false representations as to how many people were online at any particular moment, false representations as to how many new members joined on any particular day, deceptive random text in the body of the emails, false representations as to Adult Action Cam's connection with me and with the supposed senders of the spam, false representations of the geographic origins of the spam, etc. Click here to read the first amended complaint as filed.
[Note that although the first amended complaint still refers to Carolynn Tilga as a defendant, the judge granted her motion for dismissal after she represented to the court that she sold two of her companies to a Maltese company, not that she provided much detail on that alleged sale, and the spams at issue were sent after the sale date. However, the case is still quite live against the other defendants.]
TLM Enterprises Group
This "resume spammer" is off the charts in terms of deceptive means of evading spam filters. At the time of filing, there were 65 spams... sent from 26 unique domain names, 37 unique email addresses, 20 unique IP addresses indicating origination in 8 different states, and 11 different ISPs. A few more spams since filing too. Various other types of fraud in the email bodies, and most don't include a physical mailing address as required by CAN-SPAM either. Defendants ignored several letters, so we're in court.
USGuides.net
Click here to read the complaint as filed.
Unnamed Illinois Spammer
I filed two lawsuits against this spammer, which shall not be named here. The spammer tried to hide its identity by registering its domain names with private WhoIs services - which is itself a violation of federal law, 18 USC § 1037(a)(4), but I got 'em. Some of this spammer's advertisers, who are also responsible for the spam, include:
123td.com LLC dba "Pronto Mortgage Express"
of Westminster, CA
Achieve Wellness LLC
of Atlanta, GA
Affinity
Direct LLC of Englewood Cliffs, NJ
Alliance Acquisitions Associates
Inc. of Marietta, GA
America's Who's Who Registries of
Outstanding Professionals LLC (also dba Prestige Who's Who Registries) of Patchogue, NY
American Medical Services / American Health Services of
Clearwater, FL
ASH Books and Sean C.
Hanzelik of Harrison, TN
Betco
Enterprises Inc. of New York, NY and Booth
International LLC of Spring Valley, NY
Bidz.com of Culver City,
CA
Cash Cow Enterprises LLC
of Mauldin, SC
Certified Auto Alliance of
Fremont, CA and Michael Burkey
Colorado Baking Company Inc.
of West Chicago, IL - Default Judgment Entered
"Direct Investors"
of Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Emergency Internet Solutions
of Houston, TX
E.T. Communications of
Newark, OH
Famous Idols Inc. of Ft.
Lauderdale, FL
Financial Debt Solutions LLC of Clearwater, FL
Global
Icon Inc. dba InStyleSwimwear.com of Richboro, PA
Gyrocom Inc. of West Palm
Beach, FL
Hold-It Systems Ltd of
Lima, OH
Intelligent Resources Corp.,
Intelligent Resources Consulting and Bruce J. Frisch of Santa Cruz, CA
Lead Capture Pros Inc. of
Canton, OH
Lesko Enterprises Inc. of
Albion, PA
Liquidity International Inc. dba Global Gold of Carrollton, TX
The
Livingstone Corporation of Wheaton, IL
Marblestone Funding Inc.
of Fremont, CA
- Default Judgment Entered
Charles C. McGowen
dba LifeSpaceMatters.com of Lighthouse Point, FL
- Default Judgment Entered
Melaleuca Inc. of Idaho
Falls, ID and Jack Burney of Georgetown, TX
MyLostPet.net of Berlin,
CT
National Communications Group LLC of Weston, FL
Charles O. Nwarueze dba FleetPrize.com and Benchmark
Mortgage Capital of Fontana, CA
Personal Tax Services Inc. dba RedTaxFrog.com of Calhoun, GA
Puig Development Corporation /
Venetia Country Club of Largo, FL
- Default Judgment Entered
Remark
International LTD of Wheeling, IL
Resorts Unlimited Inc. of
North Salt Lake, UT and Perforum Marketing of Orem,
UT
Riptopia Inc. of
Washington, DC
Rush
Gideon LLC of Des Moines, IA
"Savvy Investor"/"Stock Wire" of
Santa Monica, CA
Secure Call Management Inc.
of Los Angeles, CA
- Default Judgment Entered
Sheridan Distributing Inc. dba
fitandfiddle.com of Williamsville, NY
Stone
International LLC dba Nextou.com of Columbia, SC
Tamara Dorris dba MillionDollarAgent.org of
Carmichael, CA
Tiferet Journal and
Baier Stein Direct of Peapack, NJ and
Miriam's Well Inc. of Saugerties, NY
Vision Marketing dba
TheMoneyDoctorSystem.com of Orange, Florida and
Anthony Lee dba alcashplus.com, an individual in Kinston, NC
WM Inc. of Los Angeles, CA
YourDoormat.com of
Richmond, VA
More to Come...
There are several cases to be filed. I believe that all of the organizations/individuals named below either personally send spam with falsified headers, or use affiliates who send spam with falsified headers. For the spammers below who ARE the affiliates, we'll be naming the principals for whom they spam as well.
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Alliance Advance Corp. dba "Mt. Courtney Financial" and "Monde Financial" of Wyoming, DE, Visions Marketing Network LLC of Palm Beach Gardens, FL and its California spamming services, Uptilt Inc. (dba EmailLabs) of Menlo Park, CA and Excedior Inc. (dba ResultsMail) of Santa Ana, CA.
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Axis Interactive Media Inc. of Hollywood, FL... also claiming addresses in Hialeah and Loxahatchee, FL
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Capsoft Inc. dba MyCapsoft.com of Houston, TX (retailer of "ErrorSmart" software)
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DP Enterprises Inc. dba DishPronto.com of New York, NY
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"Effective Marketing" supposedly in New Zealand and Canada. Principals include:
Achieve Financial Security LLC of Jacksonville, FL
Adteractive Inc. dba ChristianFamilyLoans.com of San Francisco, CA
DentalPlans.com of Dania, FL
Niutech LLC of Boca Raton, FL -
E-Track Media Corporation and Chris Mahle of Boca Raton, FL. Principals include:
Bidz.com Inc. of Culver City, CA
Granite Investment Group LLC of Bedford, TX
HDVE LLC dba True.com of Irving, TX
Niutech LLC of Boca Raton, FL
Subscriberbase Inc. and friends (see below) of Columbia, SC
Way Beyond Communications LLC of Boca Raton, FL
WinHundred LLC of New York, NY – a separate company, but tied into AffiliateNetwork.com LLC of New York, NY -
FreeCollegeScholarships.net of San Francisco, CA
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Liquid Marketing Inc. and Lead Jungle Inc. of Boca Raton, FL
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Magic Marketing Group LLC of Carson City, NV
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Memolink, Inc. of Lakewood, CO and David Asseoff (note, Asseoff is also behind Trifecta Inc., who I already sued)
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OperationalSystemsPages.com, Online-OperationalSystems.com, OperationalSystems-Online.com, OperationalSystemsHome.com, etc. of New York, NY
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Christopher Post of Setauket, NY, who sent spams from Gmail, linking to domain names watchsunsets.info and intriguedlove.com, both of which were registered to a fake name/address, but the ad network through which he sent the spams gave him up.
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RelationServe Media Inc. dba "Telespace" of Fort Lauderdale, FL and its principals:
K2 Marketing Group Inc. of Pasadena, CA -
Remedy Media LLC and Robert Hawley (doing business as MediaGroup of Irvine, CA) and The Data Market Place Corp. and Peter Roccisano (doing business as Professional Internet Marketing Solutions of Weston, FL). Principals include:
Adteractive Inc. dba SmartMortgageUSA.com of San Francisco, CA
Golf Nutrition Sciences Inc. dba GNS of Arvada, CO
Memolink Inc. of Lakewood, CO and David Asseoff (note, Asseoff is also behind Trifecta Inc., who I already sued last year)
The New York Times Company of New York, NY
Niutech LLC of Boca Raton, FL
Rochelle Gordon, psychic, of Milford, CT
SLJ Group Inc. dba Universal Star Council of Lake Forest, IL
Subscriberbase Inc. and friends (see below) of Columbia, SC
WinHundred LLC of New York, NY – a separate company, but tied into AffiliateNetwork.com LLC of New York, NY -
S-Infotech Inc. dba RealOffers and Richard Simnett of Boca Raton, FL. Principals include:
26RedMarketing LLC of Provo, UT
Eleventh Street Ventures Inc. and Jason Phillips dba Trade-In-Value.com of Newport Beach, CA
ESI One LLC of Las Vegas, NV and ESI Management LLC of Sandy, UT
Niutech LLC of Boca Raton, FL
PlatinumRomance.com of Plano, TX
Subscriberbase Inc. and friends (see below) of Columbia, SC -
Small Cap Investor of Delray Beach, FL
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SmartNet Development LLC dba fastbusinessfunding.net of St. George, UT and Rapid Response Marketing LLC of Las Vegas, NV
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Wayne Jackson Enterprises LLC dba OcalaSuccess.net of Ocala, FL
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World Avenue USA LLC (formerly Niutech LLC) dba SuperbRewards, YourSmartRewards, Incentive Reward Center, National Survey Panel, eMarketResearchGroup of Boca Raton, FL and its agents & principals:
E-Track Media Corporation and Chris Mahle of Boca Raton, FL
Remedy Media LLC of Irvine, CA
S-Infotech Inc. dba RealOffers and Richard Simnett of Boca Raton, FL -
Spammer Who Shall Not Be Named. Principals include:
Beverage Solutions Inc. dba 4 Seasons Wine of Lake Forest, IL
Buena Vista Catalog Co. and Disney Enterprises Inc. dba DisneyMovieClub.com of Burbank, CA
Corinthian Colleges Inc. of Santa Ana, CA
DoubleDay Entertainment dba Book-of-the-Month Club and OneSpirit.com of Garden City, NY
Eleventh Street Ventures Inc. dba Trade-In-Value.com of Newport Beach, CA
Internet Cash Advance Marketing Inc. dba PayDayAngels.com and FirstLibertyCash.com of Vancouver, BC Canada
QuickApply Inc. of Venice, CA
Ultima Patch LLC of San Diego, CA
Watermark Media Group Inc. dba Poetry.com of Owings Mills, MD
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THE BIG ONE |
My attorney,
Timothy Walton,
filed a massive case against almost 100 spammers, in and out of CA,
who violated the 2003 California anti-spam law, Business & Professions Code
§17538.4.
We've settled with some, and let others out with stipulated judgments.
 Click here to read the First Amended Complaint. |
 Click here to read the Court’s order deeming the case complex. |
 Click here to read the Second Amended Complaint. |
 Click here to read the Court’s order that an email address is worthy of protection, particularly against spammers. “The Court finds that the unredacted records offered by Plaintiff may be filed under seal on the grounds that there is an overriding interest in the Plaintiff to prevent personal identifying information, including his E-mail address, from being made public at this time, which overcomes the right of the public to have that information.” |
 Click here to read the stipulated judgment against Ultimate Corner, LLC of St. Louis, MO. Ultimate Corner admits to: 1) violating California’s 2003 anti-spam law by not starting subject line with “ |
 Click here to read the settlement agreement with Trifecta Advertising, LLC of Colorado. Notably, this settlement does not include the usual "no admission of liability" provision. This settlement also pretty much drove the spammer out of business. At least, for now. |
 Click here to read an apology from Promere Software for its email marketing practices. |
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2004 LAWSUITS |
Glen Hannifin and Usavedepot
My attorneys got involved in this Superior Court case. Hannifin denies all liability but
he never filed any papers with
the Court. Not one. Even after the Sheriff showed up at his door
with an original, and then an amended complaint. Default judgment of $18,000 in March, 2004. But Hannifin
actually has far more serious problems than my judgment;
Microsoft sued him for $7.4 million.
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2003 LAWSUITS |
Prospect Data Corp. and Permission Communications
Inc. (FL)
This was another Superior Court
case.
We settled
out-of-court in March 2003. No more spam since the settlement.
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2002 LAWSUITS |
Toplander Corp. and YesMail (IL)
This was my first attempt at writing a complaint for Superior
Court. It wasn't particularly well-written, but the spammers in
Illinois didn't want to litigate in California, so we settled out-of-court in October
2002. No more spam since the settlement.
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MY ATTORNEY |
I am represented by Timothy Walton, a California attorney (in Palo Alto) with extensive experience in the spam and technology areas, who shares my passion for fighting spam. www.timothywalton.com
