Thoughts on Spamhaus vs. e360 - From Dave Linhardt

PushSend · Sep 12, 2011

Here's his take on the whole thing -

Thoughts on Spamhaus v E360

This lawsuit was not about money. It never was. It wasnâ€™t about spam, whether E360 is a spammer or whether Iâ€™m a spammer. Let me be clear â€” I hate spam. Iâ€™ve never met anyone who doesnâ€™t. If the argument is about spam, then there is no argument here.

Instead, this lawsuit was about principle. The principle of freedom to conduct legitimate business. The freedom to pursue happiness. The freedom for all entrepreneurs to pursue their dreams without interference from a foreign group of self-appointed regulators.

So, after eight years of fighting and five years of legal wrangling, the case is finally over. E360 wins on its claims against Spamhaus. Spamhaus is found to be responsible for defamation and tortious interference. E360 loses on damages.

Overall, I am pleased Spamhaus was found responsible for improper interference with our contracts and for making false statements about our business. Importantly, our suit against Spamhaus has clearly established we had jurisdiction over them in the United States. As a result, Spamhaus can no longer harm legitimate small businesses with impunity. Spamhaus is not omnipotent. They are not invincible. Because of this case, Spamhaus will find it more difficult to create inaccurate listings on its blacklist without fear of consequences. Spamhaus can no longer freely use the tactics it used against E360 (which were, at least in my opinion, exerting pressure on advertisers and internet service providers to do their bidding). Spamhaus can no longer thumb its nose at the rule of law. If they do these things again, they can be held accountable. After all, Jennerâ€™s pro bono fund is not unlimited.

Getting to this point is an accomplishment, and I am proud of it. Our success in this case is a victory for entrepreneurship and for all small businesses that use email to communicate with their customers. If our efforts help even one legitimate small business be more successful, thatâ€™s enough for me.

God knows Iâ€™m not perfect. However, with respect to sending email, I never did anything wrong. E360 never did anything wrong. Given all the false statements and accusations made by Spamhaus about me and my business, itâ€™s important to say this.

E360 had the dubious honor of having the most scrutinized email marketing program in the world. After filing against Spamhaus, E360 was involved in a total of 13 different lawsuits. Thatâ€™s an amazing number. All of the subsequent suits were a direct result of our initial filing. A legal entanglement. Through it all we kept asking, where is the evidence against us? Spamhaus refused to provide it. Now we know why. They didnâ€™t have anything that could hold up to scruntiny.

During the course of litigation, our websites were live. Anyone could signup. Many did. If they did signup and opt-in, they would receive email. A large number of these registrants included Spamhaus volunteers, attorneys, and other interested parties trying to generate evidence to use against us. In fact, Spamhaus set up a dedicated email address for the sole purpose of collecting evidence of E360 spamming. Apparently, they didnâ€™t have enough evidence before they blacklisted us and put us on their worst-of-the-worst spammer list for three years.

In addition, all our ip addresses where publicly known. The permanent injunction we had against Spamhaus effectively required us to notify Spamhaus about our ip space and disclose it in the public record. Spamhaus happily shared their E360 â€œevidenceâ€ with the parties involved in litigation against us. The emails we sent to subscribers, including those who were trying to build a case against us, provided all the information they needed to support their claims. If the claims were true, then the emails would show without a doubt that we violated anti-spam laws. In addition to information collected on their own, each party was entitled to discovery. We fully complied with each and every discovery request. Over four years, many motions and countless discovery requests, what was the total accumulation evidence against us? Nada. In fact, not one single email message held up as evidence. Not one.

If what Spamhaus said was true, I would be bankrupt, in jail, or both.

So it seems clear, not only did E360 have the most scrutinized email program in the world, it had the most compliant one as well.

If Spamhaus was interested in truth and accuracy, they would update their website, retract their statements and set the record straight. The fact they havenâ€™t speaks volumes about them.

To this day, Spamhaus continues to say E360 is a spammer. Spamhaus continues to say I am a spammer. I suspect they will continue to say this forever even though it was never true in the first place and I exited the email business four years ago. From reading Spamhausâ€™ statements about me, you would think Iâ€™m the #1 spammer in the world. Funny how my presence in email marketing and my exit hasnâ€™t had any impact whatsoever on the amount of spam in world.

In my opinion, Spamhaus has used their platform not to fight spam, but to enact a personal vendetta. So, I think the real question becomes, is Spamhaus an organization worthy of your trust?

Just because someone says something doesnâ€™t mean it is true. Calling yourself a non-profit do-gooder doesnâ€™t make your false statements any more truthful. To me, the most amazing thing about all of this is that anyone still listens to Spamhaus at all, about anything.
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source: Dave Lindhardt

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Thoughts on Spamhaus vs. e360 - From Dave Linhardt

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