David Linhardt, the marketer engaged in a high-profile court battle with e-mail blacklister Spamhaus, has opened a new front in his legal assault on anti-spammers.
The CEO of e-mail marketing firm E360Insight has filed a lawsuit against participants in the online discussion forum Nanae, a group known for its virulently anti-spam participants.
According to a complaint filed in Illinois federal court on March 7, participants in the group have repeatedly referred to E360 as a spammer. As a result of their statements, the complaint alleges, E360 has been blacklisted as a spammer and its e-mail has been blocked from intended recipients causing E360 to lose profits.
The complaint claims that E360 has lost clients and potential clients as a result of Nanae participants’ statements.
Linhardt is seeking a court order barring the defendants from calling his company a spammer on Nanae, and is asking for more than $75,000 in damages.
Named in the suit are Mark Furguson, Susan Wilson, also known as Susan Gunn, Tim Skirvin, Kelly Chien, an unknown person who goes by Fudo, and an unknown person who goes by Morely Dotes. The names are familiar to those who follow online spam debates. Susan Wilson, for example, was the main protagonist in Spam Kings, the 2004 book by Brian McWilliams exploring the underworld of spammers and the vigilantes who fight them.
The suit is Linhardt’s latest salvo in an ongoing legal battle he is having with the anti-spam community. He sued Spamhaus last year claiming the organization wrongly listed his company as a spammer and caused much of his outbound e-mail to be blocked.
Spamhaus maintains a list of what it deems to be sources of spam that an unknown number of e-mail administrators use to help them determine whether or not to block incoming e-mail as spam.
Linhardt won an $11.7 million default judgment against Spamhaus in September when representatives of Spamhaus failed to show up and defend themselves in court.
Spamhaus’ chief executive Steve Linford has refused to abide by the ruling, claiming the U.S. court has no jurisdiction over his U.K.-based organization.
He has, however, retained a lawyer and is currently appealing the ruling. Attempts to reach the defendants were unsuccessful at deadline.
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