Juno Sues E-mail Forgers in Fight Against Spam; Free Internet E-mail Service Launches Federal Lawsuit Against Bulk E-mailers

Business Wire, Nov 25, 1997

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 25, 1997--Juno Online Services, L.P., provider of the nation's only completely free Internet e-mail service, announced it has filed suit in federal court against five organizations believed to have forged Juno e-mail addresses onto unsolicited commercial e-mail actually sent through a different e-mail provider. The lawsuit charges five defendants with sending tens of thousands of pieces of unsolicited commercial e-mail (commonly known on the Internet as "spam") bearing forged return addresses that falsely identified Juno e-mail accounts as the source of the spam.

Juno is the second-largest online service in the United States (after America Online), with more than 3.5 million subscribers. Like other major online services, Juno prohibits its subscribers from using its service for the transmission of spam. Juno maintains a staff to investigate spam-related complaints and terminates the account of any subscriber found to be in violation of this prohibition. Juno has also implemented a number of proprietary technical measures designed to make it extremely difficult to send spam from a Juno account or to "relay" spam through Juno's computers.

In recent months, however, Juno has found itself the victim of a practice its technical solutions cannot address: the forging of Juno e-mail addresses, both real and fictitious, into the "headers" of spam sent through services other than Juno. "The practice of spamming is universally reviled," said Charles Ardai, Juno's president. "Spammers insert fake return addresses in their bulk e-mail solicitations in order to disguise their identity and to deflect the thousands of angry complaints a single piece of spam can provoke onto an innocent third party."

In its complaint, Juno notes that the deceptive practices of "spammers" have interfered with its business. Juno is seeking financial compensation from the defendants for damage to Juno's reputation, fraud, and trademark infringement. The suit seeks $1,000,000 in punitive damages against each of the five defendants: Strippers, Inc. of Beverly Hills, CA; IMS of Knoxville, TN; Phoenix Interactive of Hermosa Beach, CA; Global Information Services of Clearwater, FL; and Scott Allen Export Sales of Somerset, NJ. The action, filed in United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, also asks the court for a preliminary and permanent injunction against the spammers.

The specific counts against each of the named companies include:

False designation of origin

Fraud

Unjust enrichment

According to the suit, the spammers have camouflaged their respective businesses behind Juno's reputable name by forging Juno return e-mail addresses in their solicitations. By disguising the point of origin of their messages, spammers are able to avoid the automatic filters used by many individuals and companies to reject all incoming messages from known spam sources. Because the vast majority of the e-mail that bears a Juno return address is from one of Juno's millions of legitimate e-mail users, it would be impossible for an e-mail recipient to reject all incoming Juno e-mail without rejecting messages that he or she did want to receive.

"This is a misappropriation of Juno's legitimate identity. The spammers hide behind our name in order to deceive the people they write to and avoid the consequences of their actions," said Mr. Ardai. "We believe these companies have violated federal law, and we intend to hold them responsible for their actions. With this suit we hope to turn a spotlight on one of the most objectionable practices in cyberspace and put an end to it."

About the Company

With more than 3.5 million members, Juno is the second-largest provider of dial-up Internet e-mail accounts in the United States. Rather than charging its subscribers for use of its service, Juno is designed to derive its revenues primarily through the sale of highly targeted interactive advertising and through direct sales of products and services (on a strictly optional basis) to its subscribers. The Juno software has won several industry awards, including a five-star rating from PC Computing (May 23, 1997), which described Juno as "the most well-rounded free e-mail service." Juno was also honored by FORTUNE (July 9, 1997) as one of the 25 "cool" technology companies of 1997. -0- Juno's software may be downloaded over the Internet from its Web site at http://www.juno.com/

CONTACT: Alan Penchansky

Edelman PR Worldwide

(212) 704-8285

pr@support.juno.com

or

Nicole Kikoski

Juno Online Services, L.P.

(212) 597-9000

kikoskin@staff.juno.com