AOL spammer lawsuit thrown out

A lawsuit brought by America Online against alleged bulk email spammers has been kicked out by a US court on a legal technicality.

AOL had claimed that the defendants, Florida computer technicians whose business maintained email systems and computer networks for customers, had "conspired" with others to send bulk emails through AOL's Virginia computer system.

But the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia last week found that AOL had failed to show that Virginia had jurisdiction over the Florida defendants simply because AOL's business resides in Virginia and the alleged bulk emails had gone through Virginia.

The court said in its ruling that asserting jurisdiction over the defendants would violate the defendants' due process rights since they did not actually direct electronic activity into Virginia, and did not intend specifically to engage in business in Virginia.

Further, the court ruled that merely enabling someone to transmit material over the internet is insufficient to permit such jurisdiction.

Seth Berenzweig, partner with Arlington law firm Albo & Oblon LLP, and attorney for the defendants, said in a statement: "The court's decision ... demonstrates [its] concern that due process rights may be violated by permitting ISPs to sue out-of-state technicians or computer networking consultants in Virginia for work such entities performed outside of the state."