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WA Wins First Case Against Deceptive Spammer
GPFCharlie writes "The Seattle Post-Intelligencer is running this article about the first victory by a US state against a spammer. Apparently the judge ruled that a civil trial was not even necessary, since the state had already proven their case. The law was upheld by the WA Supreme Court and an appeal was turned down by the US Supreme Court. Next phase: penalties. How about 5 million hand-written apology letters?"
The Debian "advertising" policy is listed below:
"This policy is intended to fight mailing-list "spamming". "
"The Debian mailing lists accept commercial advertising for payment. The fee for advertisments is a donation of USD 1000 or more to "Software in the Public Interest" (SPI). One donation per advertisement, please. If you prefer to pay in arrears, simply post your advertisement to the list, and the list operator will bill you USD 1999. The list operator will donate this amount, minus the expense of collecting it, to SPI. Please note that the lists are distributed automatically -- messages are generally not read or checked in any way before they are distributed. "
"The act of posting an advertisement indicates your willingness to
accept responsibility for the fee,
indemnify the list operator against any legal claims from you or others in connection with your advertisement, and
pay any legal and business expenses incurred in collecting late payment.
Our liability to you is limited to a good-faith effort to deliver your message. "
"Reduced rates and/or waiver of fee are available for Debian-related advertisements. You must consult the list operator in advance of posting for any reduction or fee waiver. "
I could not find confirmation, but I have heard that Debian was once able to collect a useful server as the only asset that a spammer had to pay under the terms of this policy.