California Court Rules Against Kozmo in Groundbreaking Anti-Spam Case.Business Editors SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 22, 2001 On April 16, 2001, the Small Claims Division of the Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden released a ruling against Kozmo under California state laws regulating unsolicited commercial email (UCE (Unsolicited Commercial E-mail) See spam. ), commonly known as "spam." The court awarded Ellen Spertus Ellen Spertus is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at Mills College and a part-time software engineer at Google. In 2001 she was named The Sexiest Geek Alive. She is the author of technical as well as social articles, often combining the two. , the plaintiff, $50 principal and $27.50 in court costs court costs n. fees for expenses that the courts pass on to attorneys, who then pass them on to their clients or, in some kinds of cases, to the losing party. in what Spertus called a "moral victory." Spertus sued under Sections 17538.45 and 17538.4 of the California Business and Professions Code, which went into effect on Jan. 1, 1999. Spertus said that she has received thousands of pieces of spam over the years but that the November 23 mailing from Kozmo "pushed her over the edge." The mailing began by acknowledging that it was being sent to customers "who originally opted not to receive occasional e-mail news from us." When Spertus complained to the address provided for privacy concerns on the Kozmo.com site, the message was returned as undeliverable un·de·liv·er·a·ble adj. Difficult or impossible to deliver: undeliverable mail. un . Kozmo ignored a subsequent letter of complaint, at which time Spertus filed suit. The hearing was held in San Francisco on April 4, 2001. Spertus argued that the Kozmo mailing violated Section 17538.4, which states, "Upon notification by a recipient of his or her request not to receive any further unsolicited faxed or e-mailed documents, no person or entity conducting business in this state shall fax or cause to be faxed or e-mail or cause to be e-mailed any unsolicited documents to that recipient." Spertus, a computer science professor at Mills College Mills College, at Oakland, Calif.; for women; est. 1852 as the Young Ladies' Seminary at Benicia, Calif., moved 1871, chartered as Mills College 1885. The first women's college in the Far West, it has programs in English literature and creative writing, foreign in Oakland, California “Oakland” redirects here. For other uses, see Oakland (disambiguation). Oakland (IPA: /ˈoʊklənd/), founded in 1852, is the eighth-largest city in the U.S. , learned of the opportunity for action against UCE through suespammers.org. Spertus said that she does not expect to collect from Kozmo, which went out of business on April 11, 2001. "It is still a victory. My goal was to send a message to companies that they cannot disregard users' 'opt-out' requests and to let individuals know that they can fight back. It was never about the money." Spertus went on to joke: "If money were my primary motivator, I wouldn't have become a college professor. I am just grateful that the judge didn't award me the company." Spertus vs. Kozmo.com is San Francisco Small Claims Case #789335. More information can be found online at "http://www.spertus.com/ellen/Kozmo/kozmo.html". To contact Spertus directly, email contact@spertus.com or call 415/225-3656. |
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