compuserve sued

[David Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>]

Posted-Date: Thu, 2 Mar 1995 16:20:48 -0500
From: gnu () toad com
To: eff-staff () eff org, eff-board () eff org
Subject: Compuserve Sued for Delivering "Junk E-Mail"
Date: Thu, 02 Mar 95 13:19:31 -0800


To: Cypherpunks Lite <cp-lite () comsec com>
Date: Wed, 1 Mar 1995 19:14:21 -0800
From: nobody () tower techwood org (Name Withheld)
Subject: Compuserve Sued for Delivering "Junk E-Mail"


Robert Arkow, a Compuserve subscriber, is suing the service for
delivering two unsolicited advertising e-mail messages to his mailbox
on December 21, 1994.  The suit, believed to be the first of its kind,
challenges the right of advertisers to deliver so- called "Junk E-Mail"
under the Telephone Consumer Privacy Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA).
Arkow argues that the TCPA prohibits the automated calling of "any
service for which the calling party is charged for the call."  Also
named in the suit is Compuserve Visa, the business responsible for the
ads.


The TCPA provisions are aimed at automated dialers, machines that call
homes and deliver recorded sales pitches.  The law also prohibits
unsolicited fax advertisements.  The question will be "How similar is
junk E-Mail to recorded telemarketing calls or unsolicited fax ads?"



--
Barry D. Fraser                      fraser () pwa acusd edu
Online Legal Research Associate


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