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Internet Association To Appeal Spam Ruling
The Washington Association of Internet Service Providers (WAISP) will file an appeal next week to a court decision that declared a recent state spam law a hindrance to e-commerce and allowed the first man sued under the law to go free. The state attorney general's office filed a similar appeal last week.
"If the (Supreme) Court views this as a deceptive spam regulation, they will see that deceptive commerce doesn't get any protection under the commerce clause," said WAISP legal counsel Richard Busch. "We're comfortable they'll come out in support of the state."
In March, King County Superior Court Judge Palmer Robinson dismissed a case in which the state charged then 24-year-old Oregon resident Jason Heckel and his online business, Natural Instinct, with violating a June 1998 state anti-spam law when he send misleading e-mails to Washington residents. In a one-page summary judgment, Robinson said the law violated the federal interstate commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution and that "the Washington statute is unduly restrictive and burdensome."
The case originally was filed by Washington Attorney General Christine Gregoire's office after it received resident complaints about unsolicited e-mails, said Paula Selis, senior counsel for the attorney general's consumer protection division. The filing came after Heckel failed to heed state officials' warnings to discontinue the spamming.
The 1998 state law prohibited the sending of spam if the sender used a fraudulent e-mail address, misleading header or subject line, or any information not able to be traced or blocked. The suit asserted that Heckel sent between 100,000 and 1 million pieces of spam per week, selling 30 to 50 of his "How to Profit From the Internet" packages at $39.95 each. Plaintiffs argued Heckel erred when he wrote subject lines such as, "Did I get the right e-mail address?" to entice recipients to download the messages. They requested civil penalties of $2,000 for each violation and a permanent injunction barring Heckel from sending spam. In the March decision, Robinson not only dismissed the case, but she also signed an order allowing Heckel to present a bill for recovery of his costs and legal fees.
While spamming has been a hot topic on Capitol Hill with several federal bills pending action, states have been developing their own spam-related legislation. The Internet community argues spam costs Internet service providers time and money and hogs computer memory. WAISP Executive Director Gary Gardner told National Journal's Technology Daily that the "judge didn't address all the issues" and that he "erred completely … and the attorney general concluded the same thing."
"All arguments will be heard before the (state) Supreme Court later this fall," Gardner said. "I think we have real strong grounds for appeal and I think we will be successful with that. I think this is a weird aberration of the trial court judge."
WAISP is a trade association formed in 1997 that represents common interests of the ISP industry and represents about 50 ISPs who serve about 800,000 customers.
"Our position is that Washington's spam statute prohibits deceptive spam, not all spam," Busch said.
On Tuesday, WAISP representatives met to work on a friend of the court brief that will be filed with the state Supreme Court next week to uphold the Washington law.
But some anti-spam groups say the state law may not be enough to combat unsolicited mail.
"We're sort of in mild support of the legislation, it still left quite a bit to be desired," said Ray Everett-Church, spokesman for the Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail (CAUCE). "Even completely accurate spam is very costly to recipients and ISPs who have to process and deliver the stuff."
Everett-Church said patchwork anti-spam legislation will continue to cause problems in the courts when spammers are brought to trial.
"We certainly would like to see Washington state law upheld that spam is harmful and should be addressed through legislation," he said. "But we certainly remain concerned that a state-by-state approach continues to run into the constitutional problems with the basis for the court's earlier decision."
But WAISP disagrees.
The gist of the group's brief will say "the state of Washington has the right to prohibit the use of fraudulent license plates on the information superhighway," said Ethan Ackerman of the Center for Law, Commerce & Technology at the University of Washington School of Law. Ackerman, along with fellow law student Aaron Perrine, helped WAISP research the case.
"States certainly have the opportunity regulate their conduct in that area," Busch said.
IT Commission Meets Next Week
Virginia's Governor's Commission on Information Technology will reconvene Thursday, Aug. 31, to follow up on policy recommendations made by the commission's four reports and other work on key technology initiatives. Two new task forces also will be launched: turning "Main Street" businesses into "E-Street" businesses; and building "E-communities."
Established by Virginia Secretary of Technology Donald Upson, the task forces will be charged with exposing businesses to new models and to reduce possible risks of the changes the technology revolution is bringing with it. The task forces will also provide guidance to communities to begin working on getting their areas wired with the resources they have.
The conference will be held at the Richmond Marriott. Scheduled speakers include Virginia Gov. James Gilmore, R, CACI President Ken Johnson, FCC Commissioner Harold Furtchgott-Roth and Hong Kong's former solicitor general, Daniel Fung, via video.
Florida Becomes Superfast
Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, R, joined Florida State University President Sandy D'Alemberte Aug. 14 in announcing the college's acquisition of IBM's RS/6000 SP supercomputer system, the most powerful computer owned by a university.
The supercomputer will be used for a variety of research projects, including hurricane forecasting, comparison of DNA sequences, scheduling and management of air and telecommunications traffic and the creation of artificially intelligent, environmentally adaptive computers and robots.
"The acquisition of this computer will place FSU well above any other university in the world when it comes to providing its students and faculty with the latest, most effective, and powerful means of scientific and computer research," Bush said in his weekly e-newsletter.
Bush also met in Orlando Thursday with the board of directors of Enterprise Florida, the public/private sector partnership created to stimulate the state's economic development. The group discussed ways to attract high-tech companies to the state — companies, Bush said, that are driving Florida's economy.
"We need to take an advantage of the opportunities offered by companies engaged in new technology," Bush said.
Wild West Getting Wired
Nucentrix Broadband Networks filed with the Federal Communications Commission this week to get licenses to provide broadband access over its fixed-wireless spectrum in 70 markets in Texas and the Midwest. Nucentrix says this is the first opportunity for operators of Multichannel Multiple Distribution (MMDS) and Instructional Television Fixed Services (ITFS) radio frequencies to file for licenses to provide two-way communication services.
"We have passed another critical phase in our plan to roll out reliable high-speed Internet access and other broadband services to businesses and residential consumers in our markets," CEO Carroll McHenry said in a statement. "Soon we will be able to show our customers how broadband connectivity can revolutionize the way they conduct business and use the Internet at home."
Nucentrix filed is application within the FCC's initial filing window of Aug. 14 to Aug. 18, which means operators will have 60 days after filing to modify their applications to resolve any conflicts with neighboring systems. If no petitions to deny an application are filed, the application automatically will be considered granted.
Nucentrix also recently announced the completion of initial trials with Cisco of fixed-wireless broadband services in Austin, TX. The company expects to complete a second trial in Amarillo, TX, by October, and plans to launch its fixed-wireless broadband services in at least 20 markets by the end of 2001.
Digitalsouth Names 'Real (Tech) Heroes'
digitalsouth — a publication covering leading-edge technology companies, venture capital and financing from the Mason-Dixon line to the Florida Keys and west to Texas — announced the "real heroes" of southern technology business, to be published in the September/October issue hitting newsstands this week. Each year, digitalsouth announces a list of the top players in the southern information technology industry; the 2000 issue edition focuses on 30 of these leaders chosen from the top six business markets in the south that you don't see in the newspapers every day. The top 30 include business leaders from Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Dallas, South Florida and Washington, DC.
Wiring Rural LaGrange
LaGrange, GA, using TV and wireless keyboards, will enable its residents to surf the Web and access e-mail — all for free to the public. National Public Radio reported Tuesday that 4,000 residents have requested access from the city and that many prefer the cheaper television Web sets than a PC. The city spent $10 million to create a 150-broadband, high-coaxial cable network with two-way access to every home in the city, NPR reported. LaGrange is paying $300,000 this year for free TV hook-ups, but that will only cover about half of those who want the service. The TV aspect will be evaluated after one year, when the city council will decide whether to continue the service. Mayor Jeff Lukken told CNN Wednesday, "it's a great system. We did it to make sure we impacted the lives of our workforce and our students."
State E-Briefs:
Education: The Massachusetts Board of Higher Education unanimously voted Monday to grant a license to the state's first completely online college — Harcourt Higher Education — and will begin enrolling students this fall. The college hopes to enroll as many as 20,000 students in the next five years and will offer bachelor's and associate's degrees in science, information technology and health science. All classes and coursework will be completed entirely over the Web. The company will seek accreditation from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges.
Internet Access: The National Association of Counties (NACo), the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the National Institute of Governmental Purchasing (NIGP) introduced a new government purchasing program Thursday that will allow local governments to buy computers and other high-tech equipment directly from industry leaders — like IBM and Dell — and should save cities millions of dollars. The U.S. Communities Government Purchasing Alliance (GPA) has saved local governments over $35 million in 1999 though its office supply program with Office Depot, according to NACo.
E-commerce: For the thirteenth consecutive year, NASIRE — representing state chief information officers — has selected winners to receive the 2000 Recognition Awards for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Information Technology. The awards are given annually to those programs and systems that have created cost effective, innovative solutions in the operation of state government. The following states had programs that were chosen from a field of 87 submissions from 23 states, with details on NASIRE's Web site: Texas, Virginia, Idaho, New Jersey, North Carolina, Missouri and Kansas.
Business: Enterasys Networks, a unit of Internet equipment maker Cabletron Systems, said Monday it agreed to acquire Indus River Networks of Acton, MA, for about $170 million in stock to boost its product line for connecting corporations to secure private networks. Enterasys is the largest of the Rochester, NH-based Cabletron's four independent companies. Each network site will connect to the network provider's network rather than directly to another corporate location, as the current system is set up. Corporate information officers are looking into cheap and secure connections that will allow employees to tap into corporate computer networks from the road or home, as well.
Business: Information technology services firm Computer Sciences of Falls Church, VA, Tuesday said it was awarded a $352 million contract over five years to provide infrastructure, IT and communications services at Lackland Air Force base near San Antonio, TX. The contract will be finalized after a 30-day review period and appeals process. The venture will employ about 1,000 people.
- by Liza Porteus
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