o An Oregon man found guilty of spamming was ordered on Friday to pay nearly $100,000 under Washington state’s anti-spam law. A King County Superior Court judge last month found Jason Heckel had violated the law by sending an estimated 20,000 unsolicited e-mails to Washington residents in 1998, attempting to sell them a guide to getting rich on the Internet. In a written statement, Heckel said he never intended to break the law and had only made about $680 from the booklet. Heckel was fined the maximum penalty ($2,000), and ordered to pay over $94,000 in legal fees, according to the Associated Press. He plans to appeal. The case, filed in 1998, was the first of its kind in the nation. Washington was the first state to pass an anti-spam law. Now there are 26 such state laws.
o Dennis Publishing has awarded management of its Maxim and Stuff magazine subscriber files to American List Counsel, Princeton, NJ. ALC will take control of the files on Dec.1. Both magazines are geared toward men between the ages of 18-34. Maxim boasts 1.7 million active subscribers, while Stuff's file currently stands at 800,000 subscribers.
MeritDirect, a list management and brokerage firm, is moving its headquarters from Stamford, CT to a larger facility at 333 Westchester Ave, White Plains, NY. The 10- year lease begins Dec. 1. The move represents a 50% expansion over the present 13,000-square-foot Stamford office, the firm said.
o Rob Morgan will step down as executive vice president of ad agency Brann Worldwide’s Toronto office Nov. 15. Morgan, who joined the company in July 2000, will join a U.S.-based agency, where he will be responsible for its DM division. A spokeswoman for Brann would not reveal where he is headed. Paul MacMahon, senior vice president, planning and integration will serve as acting general manager of the Toronto. Before joining Brann, Morgan had been executive vice president and COO of Communicaide Marketing Services Ltd., a Rapp Collins Worldwide company.
o Zones, Inc. reported net earnings of $124,000 for the third quarter, up from a loss of $257,000 last year. The Renton, WA company reported total net sales of $102.4 million down, from $120.7 million last year. The computer cataloger's total net sales were $102.4 million in the third quarter of this year compared to $120.7 million during the same period in 2001. For the nine months ended Sept. 30, net earnings improved to $577,000 from a net loss of $62,000 in 2001. Net sales for the period of $310 million were 27.4% from $427.1 million last year.
