A federal judge let stand a temporary restraining order against Mail Abuse Prevention System LLC (MAPS), prohibiting the group from listing Yesmail.com Inc. as a spammer.
U.S. District Judge Blanche Manning declined late Friday to vacate the order issued on July 13, according to online reports. However, the judge agreed to hear arguments over Yesmail’s petition for a permanent injunction. And MAPS claimed partial victory in that the court will now allow the group to speak about the case to the press.
The temporary order expires on Aug. 2.
Dave Tolmie, CEO of Yesmail.com, declined comment.
Paul Vixie, managing member of MAPS, said in a statement that “We’ve been expecting such a suit, and we’re ready for it.”
Vixie claimed that “as a direct result of Yesmail’s lawsuit and their own statements to the press, dozens of Internet sites are now blocking Yesmail’s Internet traffic of their own accord.”
According to Vixie, MAPS has made no public comment about the lawsuit before today. He added that “MAPS doesn’t make public the list of companies in its database.”
In its complaint filed on July 13, Yesmail alleged that MAPS, a Redwood, CA-based Internet watchdog group, had announced it was going to list Yesmail on its Realtime Blackhole list (RBL) of spammers. The list is relied on by many Internet Service Providers, and can lead to the shutting down of a firm’s Web site.
At issue is Yesmail’s refusal to adhere to MAPS’ double opt-in protocol pending further study, according to the complaint.
Yesmail termed the spammer label “a false, misleading and demeaning statement about the quality, nature and character of Yesmail’s goods and services.” And it argued that an RBL listing would “prove devastating to Yesmail and seriously threaten its continued existence.”
Vixie said in his statement that MAPS believes it has the right to “keep a database of companies whose practices are not consistent with our position, and to allow others to query that database.”
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