The company, Benchmark Print Supply, and its owner, Sam Khuri, were said to be among the most prolific “spammers” in the US. The temporary restraining order was issued by a US district court in Georgia and will remain in place at least until an evidentiary hearing next month, after which the court will decide whether the restraining order should remain in effect for the duration of the case.
E-mail service Friendly Email alleges that Benchmark and Khuri have engaged in a malicious and illegal spam campaign involving e-mails doctored to appear as though they were sent from a Friendly Email account, the practice known as “spoofing”. This can constitute state and federal violations of the rights of the “spoofed” party, which typically suffers damage to its business reputation and which must field thousands of misdirected complaints from the disgruntled recipients of the e-mails.
The lawsuit also asks that Benchmark and Khuri be held in contempt of court and liable for both criminal penalties and civil damages for violating an order issued by the court earlier this year in a related case. In that lawsuit, which involved the claims of London e-mail service Bibliotech Limited against Benchmark and Khuri, the parties entered into a settlement that extended spamming and spoofing-related protections to all internet users, who were expressly named as third-party beneficiaries of the settlement.
The settlement, which was incorporated into the court's final order, marked the first resolution of a spam-related case that involved protections for all internet users, rather than for only those bringing the case.