The FTC settled with 3 alleged spam operators in cases filed in Chicago U.S. court and a 4th in Phoenix. Cleverlink Trading and partners will fork over $400,000 for its “date lonely wives” e-mail, which “violated nearly every provision” of CAN-SPAM, from misleading headers and deceptive subject lines to missing opt-out link and sexually-explicit disclosure to invalid postal address, the FTC said. Messages had sexual content in the “initially viewable” area, violating the Adult Labeling Rule, the agency said. A second Chicago defendant, Zachary Kinion, sent porn, mortgage and privacy software spam via innocent 3rd parties, paying other spammers on commission, FTC alleged. The deal bars him from repeating his CAN-SPAM violations; a $151,000 judgment was suspended on inability to pay. Third Chicago defendant Brian McMullen, d/b/a BM Entertainment and B Pimp, used porn and pharmaceutical spam to drive traffic to 3rd-party websites and used zombie networks, FTC alleged. A $24,000 judgment was suspended for inability to pay. McMullen also pleaded guilty to spam-related criminal charges involving unauthorized possession of credit cards; he awaits sentencing, the agency said. In Phoenix, John Vitale, William Dugger and Angelina Johnson will pay $8,000 to settle claims they used “zombie” computers to route spam and violated the Adult Labeling Rule. They also promised not to use 3rd-party computers for e-mail without consent.
The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has issued a final rule, effective October 5, 2006, that adjusts the number of members on the Hass Avocado Board to reflect changes in the production of domestic Hass avocados in the U.S. and the volume of Hass avocados imported into the U.S. The adjustment results in 7 domestic producer members and alternates and 6 importer members and alternates (rather than 8 domestic members/alternates and 5 importer members/alternates). (D/N FV-06-701-FR, FR Pub 09/05/06, available at http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20061800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2006/pdf/06-7372.pdf)
CBP has posted to its Web site a notice announcing a "weekly" special import quota of 23,276,125 kg for upland cotton purchased not later than December 5, 2006 and entered under HTS 9903.52.22. The quota period is September 7, 2006 through March 5, 2007; the opening date is September 7, 2006 at 1:00 p.m. EDT, or its equivalent in other time zones.
The Dept. of Justice, 16 state attorneys general and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce sided with the Bells’ plea that the U.S. Supreme Court reject a class-action suit charging them with “parallel action” and “conspiracy.” The suit, by customers William Twombly and Lawrence Marcus, was thrown out by the U.S. Dist. Court, N.Y., but reinstated last year by the 2nd U.S. Appeals Court, N.Y. The Supreme Court has accepted the case -- Bell Atlantic v. Twombly -- but not set oral argument. One source speculated that oral argument would be late this year. Briefs by Twombly and supporters are due Oct. 13.
The U.S. Appeals Court, Federal Circuit, rejected the challenge of Jack Benun -- onetime Concord Camera CEO -- of a lower court’s jurisdiction to bar import of single-use cameras that infringe Fuji patents. Fuji’s legal battle with Benun dates to 1998, when the camera maker filed a complaint with the International Trade Commission seeking to block imports of Jazz Photo’s single-use cameras it alleged infringed its patents. The ITC eventually ordered Jazz’s cameras seized and imposed a $13 million penalty for violations of an exclusion order. In a related case filed in federal district court, Fuji was awarded $29 million in damages for patent infringement. Jazz filed for bankruptcy in 2003 and liquidated 2 years later, selling its interest in 1.4 million single-use cameras to Benun-controlled Ribi Tech. Fuji sued Benun and Ribi in April 2005 and was granted a preliminary injunction barring Ribi from selling the cameras. Ribi argued that once the ITC entered an exclusion order, the district court was prevented from considering import issues involving the same goods. The appeals court rejected the claim, ruling that an exclusion order “does not alter the district court’s authority to proceed with remedies that may affect the same goods.”
Microsoft filed 3 suits against alleged cybersquatters and “typosquatters” as part of a 3-pronged campaign to end the practices, it said Tues. A new wave of cybersquatter trading on recent growth in online ads is profiting from common errors in spelling Microsoft-related domain names. In one suit, the software giant said it aims to use subpoenas to identify 217 “John Doe” URL registrants masking their names via privacy protection services, and in doing so reveal how profitable the practice has become. The suits claim violations of federal and state law.
Polk Audio co-founders George Klopfer and Matthew Polk each will get $83,000 annually under employment agreements they'll sign after Directed Electronics completes its Polk acquisition in late Sept., Directed said in an 8-K report filed at the SEC. Klopfer and Polk have agreed to provide “advisory services” to Polk’s new owner, Directed CEO Jim Minarik told analysts in a conference call.
Companies and utilities don’t realize how much of their critical information is available over the Internet, experts said Tues. at the InfraGard conference. “The amount of sensitive information online should be sobering” to companies and utilities, said Joanne Ashland, team lead for Dyonyx Security.
The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has issued a proposed rule to amend 15 CFR Part 764 in order to set forth BIS policy concerning voluntary self disclosures of violations of 15 CFR Part 760 (Restrictive Trade Practices or Boycotts) and violations of 15 CFR Part 762 (Recordkeeping) that relate to 15 CFR Part 760.
At least 2 potential buyers for Tower Records have emerged as the chain sought bankruptcy protection, blaming a sharp drop in prerecorded music sales.