I would have thought – or hoped – that an ISP could successfully sue a spammer under CAN-SPAM by simply demonstrating that their server(s) were misused for a spam run. I would have thought wrong. Ronnie London writes in the Privacy & Security Law Blog that the bar for a successful lawsuit is higher than what you might have thought:
In our entry CAN-SPAM Complaint Mills – Time For A New Business Model? pointing to our advisory on the Ninth Circuit’s decision in Gordon v. Virtumondo, Inc., we noted the court’s holding that private suits to enforce the CAN-SPAM Act are limited to bona fide Internet access service providers who genuinely suffer “adverse affects” attributable to email that violates the law, its recognition of non-misleading commercial email as a legitimate marketing tool, and its concerns about a CAN-SPAM “cottage industry” that has been set up “to profit from litigation.”
Yesterday, the Ninth Circuit built on that foundation, issuing its decision in Asis Internet Services v. Azoogle.com, Inc., which affirmed dismissal of a similar plaintiff’s CAN-SPAM claims, and an award of costs against it.
Read more here.