AGIS/Cyberpromo Article
Mark E Larson
markl at rust.net
Thu Oct 2 13:37:05 UTC 1997
http://www.freep.com/browsing/internet/qagis1.htm
>
>October 1, 1997
>
> BY MIKE BRENNAN
> Free Press Business Writer
>
> A Dearborn Internet company must put the Web's
> largest creator of electronic junk mail back on
> line, at least for the next two weeks, a federal
> judge ruled Tuesday.
>
> But Cyber Promotions must post a $12,500 bond
> to pay for any potential damage to Apex Global
> Internet Services' (AGIS) computer network
> from net users opposed to bulk electronic
> advertising, U.S. District Judge Anita Brody said
> in her ruling in Philadelphia.
>
> Cyber Promotions had been sending daily millions
> of unsolicited electronic ads for everything from
> get-rich-quick schemes to sexually explicit Web
> sites.
>
> Sept. 16, AGIS pulled the plug on Cyber after
> three AGIS central switching stations were shut
> down by a flood of electronic signals from Web
> surfers opposed to junk E-mail.
>
> Brody ruled AGIS' contract with Cyber
> Promotions requires a 30-day notice before
> service could be terminated.
>
> So, she said, AGIS must reinstate Cyber
> Promotions through Oct. 16, or until the junk
> E-mailer gets connected through another Internet
> service provider.
>
> AGIS President Phillip Lawlor said he was
> disappointed with Brody's decision because he
> feels she did not hear all the evidence. He
> contends he may still disconnect Cyber
> Promotions without notice because of the
> electronic attacks against his network and
> because the company also used AGIS' network to
> counterattack its Web enemies.
>
> He asked that anti-bulk E-mail forces end the
> warfare against AGIS because of the court
> order. "The court has spoken," Lawlor said. "We
> need to honor our connectivity contract to Cyber
> Promotions."
>
> Lawlor said he now regrets his decision to give
> Cyber Promotions and several other bulk
> E-mailers -- called spammers in Net jargon -- a
> home. But he said he took his actions to help
> create a code of ethics for bulk E-mailers.
>
> Now he would welcome federal legislation
> blocking the use of the Internet to companies that
> send unsolicited bulk E-mail to Web surfers who
> don't want to receive them.
>
> "I would like some law I can enforce," he said. "I
> don't consider myself an anti-spammer, just a
> large backbone provider burdened with the task
> of protecting the Internet."
>
> Cyber Promotions President Sanford Wallace
> could not be reached for comment.
>
> Not addressed in the judge's ruling was Cyber
> Promotions' contention that the First Amendment
> guarantees its right to send all the E-mail it
> wants.
>
> "Under the law, it is improper to consider the
> nature of the activities of Cyber," Brody wrote in
> a footnote. "This includes my strong personal
> distaste for Cyber's business."
>
> Brody said the public interest "tips towards the
> issuance of a preliminary injunction, although it is
> undisputed that Cyber's business ... is a
> controversial one.
>
> "However, the fact that Cyber is an unpopular
> citizen of the Internet does not mean that Cyber
> is not entitled to have its contracts enforced in a
> court of law or that Cyber is not entitled to such
> injunctive relief as any similarly situated
> business," Brody ruled.
>
>
>
>
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