Mark Mumma—the anti-spammer being sued by Omega World Travel for $3.8 million on allegations of defamation—holds himself up as a crusader out to save the Internet from unsolicited commercial e-mail.
But Mumma’s letter demanding $6,250 from Omega World Travel offers a revealing look into the self-proclaimed tireless litigator’s tactics.
“Do not make the grave error of failing to take ME seriously,” said the letter, after demanding money from Omega for some commercial e-mail Mumma claimed was sent to him by Omega subsidiary Cruise.com without his permission.
Mumma sent the letter in January 2005 after reportedly calling Omega and demanding it stop sending him e-mails but refusing to supply the addresses to be suppressed.
“My company … is entitled to $25,000 per day for each and every day unlawful email [is] transported through email servers under my control and ownership,” the letter said. “What this means to you is that I am guaranteed a minimum of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars ($150,000) under current anti-spam laws. You may settle this matter here and now for the amount of … six thousand, two hundred and fifty dollars ($6,250).”
The letter—now part of public record as a result of Omega’s lawsuit against Mumma—demanded the travel firm either mail the money to an address supplied, or wire it into a bank account.
“Be advised,” the letter continued: “If you do not settle this matter with me for the token amount of six thousand, two hundred and fifty U.S. dollars ($6,250) by February 15, 2005, I will file a lawsuit against your company in an amount not less than one hundred and fifty thousand U.S. dollars.”
The letter also implied that there was a page dedicated to Omega on SUEaSpammer.com, an anti-spam Web site maintained by Mumma, and that the travel firm would be embarrassed publicly as a result of Google caching it if Omega did not settle quickly enough.
“I can only guess that Google will revisit www.SUEaSpammer.com within the next seven (7) days and permanently cache your page in it’s [sic] memory,” the letter said. “Your only chance at complete and total confidentiality is to settle this matter prior to Google.com re-indexing this account. It could be any day.”
When Omega refused to pay, postings on SUEaSpammer.com accused Omega, its Web site Cruise.com and its owners Daniel and Gloria Bohan of being spammers. The Web site also posted a photo of the Bohans that had apparently been copied from Cruise.com and described the couple as “Cruise.com spammers,” according to court records.
The Bohans turned around and sued Mumma in federal court for $3.8 million in damages, alleging defamation.
In response, Mumma countersued the Bohans under Oklahoma and federal anti-spam laws. Mumma lost his suit.
Omega’s defamation suit against Mumma heads to trial before a jury on April 25.
Click here for a copy of Mumma’s entire letter to Omega.
