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32 U. Rich. L. Rev. 545 (1998-1999)
Canning Spam: Compuserve, Inc. v. Cyber Promotions, Inc.

handle is hein.journals/urich32 and id is 563 raw text is: CANNING SPAM: COMPUSERVE, INC. V. CYBER PROMOTIONS, INC. As new technology emerges, the appearance of related legal issues seems never to be far behind.' I. INTRODUCTION A. The Issue of Unsolicited Commercial Electronic Mail Messages The rapid development of the Internet as a source of infor- mation and as a means of communication has caused courts and legislatures to scramble to integrate old legal structures into a new framework. The characteristic of near-instantaneous access to millions of subscribers of various Internet service providers (ISPs) has attracted the attention of commercial ad- vertisers, especially those seeking mass audiences. The Internet has also fostered the proliferation of electronic mail (e-mail) as a means of communication. Further, it has attracted the atten- tion of Congress, where there are currently three bills pending which would restrict or prohibit unsolicited e-mail advertising.2 The Federal Trade Commission also recently directed represen- tatives of the computer industry, marketing companies and privacy advocates to formulate a voluntary method of dealing with the increasing volume of these advertising messages.' A recent case from the Southern District of Ohio addressed the issue of an online computer service's right to prevent a commercial advertiser from sending unsolicited e-mail adver- 1. Lutz Appellate Servs., Inc. v. Curry, 859 F. Supp. 180, 181 (E.D. Pa. 1994). 2. See Victoria Shannon, Advice for Removing Span's Stain from the Screen, WAH. POST, July 28, 1997 (Washington Business), at 19. 3. See Rajiv Chandrasekaran, Group Blocks Postings of UUNet Customers, WASH. POST, Aug. 5, 1997, at C1. 545

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