Thursday's hearing was a preliminary hearing, intended to refine
the issues pending in the suit between the e-mail privacy group and
Black Ice Software, a fax, voice and imaging software
manufacturer.
The lawsuit arose when Black Ice was listed in a MAPS database
that contains the details of web sites which do not follow MAPS'
suggested e-mail abuse policies. Subscribers to MAPS' services can
utilise the information in the database to decide whether to block
e-mail which originates from these sites, thereby reducing the
amount of unwanted e-mail traffic which enters their system.
In its lawsuit against MAPS, Black Ice wrote:
“The wrongful listing of Black Ice on the
MAPS [database] and the labelling of Black Ice as a ‘spammer’ by
MAPS resulted in a substantial loss of Black Ice’s internet and
e-mail services and damaged Black Ice’s business and business
reputation.”
The judge agreed that MAPS did potentially cause a mesure of
damage to Black Ice’s name by targeting it as a spammer. MAPS
Director of Legal and Public Affairs, Anne P. Mitchell, said that
MAPS are not bothered that the court found some merit in the
contentions of Black Ice:
It simply means that there are genuine
issues for trial. We fully expect to prevail on the merits, and on
the basis that the First Amendment grants us a right to publish our
opinion, just like Consumer Reports, or a restaurant reviewer. Can
you imagine McDonald's suing a restaurant reviewer for saying that
their hamburgers could be better?”
