Nixon files lawsuits under new anti-spam legislation

ST. LOUIS -- Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon filed two lawsuits Thursday claiming violations of Missouri's new law aimed at curbing unsolicited commercial e-mail, the first such suits since the law became effective Aug. 28.

The suits filed in St. Louis Circuit Court seek injunctions to prevent both defendants from further violations, as well as civil penalties of up to $5,000 for each violation.

The so-called anti-spam law requires commercial e-mail to be labeled with the phrase "ADV:" in the first four characters of the subject line, or "ADV:ADLT" if the message contains adult material. The law also makes it illegal to send unsolicited commercial e-mail to Missourians who have asked that it not be sent to them.

"Spam is the unwanted cyber-salesman with its foot in your e-mail door," Nixon said. "These lawsuits to enforce Missouri's new law are a way to close that door."

One lawsuit names Phillip Nixon of Palm Beach, Fla. The suit claims Nixon (no relation to Jay Nixon) sent at least five unsolicited e-mails soliciting the sale of an architectural plan to the e-mail address nospammoago.org, which is maintained by the attorney general's office.

Jay Nixon said the message was not labeled as required, and continued to be sent even after reply messages asked that they be stopped.

"That e-mail address should have been his first clue to not send spam," Jay Nixon said.

The second suit was against Fundetective.com of Boca Raton, Fla. Nixon said the company sent several spam messages advertising payday loans and other services. None of the e-mails were labeled as required, Nixon said.

"Spam is the number one complaint my office receives from small businesses, where employees typically have to spend several minutes each day cleaning out their mailboxes from ads for lower mortgage rates, cheaper prescription drugs and quack health remedies," Nixon said.

The law is far weaker than Nixon's original proposal for a state-run anti-spam list similar to the popular no-call list for telemarketers.

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On the Net:

Attorney General: http://www.ago.state.mo.us