Washington state's first spam suit
The attorney general uses the state's four-month-old antispam law to go after a business called Natural Instincts.
Attorney General Christine Gregoire filed the suit in King County Superior Court against a Salem, Oregon, business that is alleged to have used "false and misleading information when sending unsolicited commercial email to Washington residents," according to a press statement issued by the office.
The suit alleges that the business Natural Instincts and its owner, Jason Heckel, sent spam to millions of Net users--including Washington state residents--in an attempt to sell his book, How to Profit From the Internet.
The Washington law, signed March 25 and enacted June 11, makes it illegal for junk emailers to forge headers, hijack other email systems, or otherwise "misrepresent the messages' point of origin."
While antispammers have long backed enactment of national legislation, they are using state laws to fight unsolicited bulk email until federal recourse is available. California recently passed what are considered to be two of the most stringent pieces of such legislation.
This is not the first time that the Washington state law has been used, but it is the first time that an agency representing a state has used it. In July, a Washington state resident received the first legal settlement in conjunction with the Washington state law. Another resident tried to sue a spammer but was having a tough time finding him.
The suit also alleges Heckel used an invalid return address, a common occurrence with spam.