The case was filed against Salem businessman Jason Heckel, after he sent unsolicited e-mail to millions of internet users to advertise a booklet called “How to Profit from the Internet”.
According to the attorney general’s office, the lawsuit alleged that Heckel used a misleading subject line that read “Did I get the right e-mail address?” to entice recipients to open and read the message. Heckel also used an invalid sending e-mail address to which recipients were unable to reply.
The sum that Heckel will be required to pay in damages will be determined in a separate hearing to be held later this autumn. Under the statute, he could be ordered to pay up to $500 per violation. Heckel said that he would appeal the decision.
Two years ago, another King County Superior Court judge ruled that the statute was unconstitutional, but the decision was later overturned by the Washington Supreme Court. The statute does not ban all unsolicited e-mails, only those containing deceptive subject lines or using invalid addresses or third parties’ domain names without their permission.
More information about Washington’s1998 Unsolicited Commercial Electronic Mail Act is available from:
www.mcnichol.com/spamlaw.htm