If Louis Philippe loses his small-claims case against America Online Inc., he may turn around and file another lawsuit against the communications giant.
In this second suit, he would cite a new state law that took effect last month.
The law – an act to control Internet spam – states that a person who receives spam can bring a civil action against the person or company that sent it. Under the law, the court can order spam senders to pay up to $250 for each violation.
The law, which took effect Sept. 13, contains a clause stating that e-mail service providers, such as AOL, are immune from being held liable with one condition: They must prove that they have in good faith taken action to stop spam before it gets to their members.
In Philippe’s opinion, AOL has failed to do that.
“I complained and complained and complained that they just didn’t care,” he said.
The company sees it differently. A spokesman for AOL said company officials are confident they are doing everything possible to reduce the amount of spam received by their subscribers.
The efforts, he said, include installing filters, pressing charges against offenders and creating a new version of AOL that was specifically designed to fight spam.
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