This blog will follow developments in spam laws and spam litigation.  Here’s the who, what, and the why.

Who:  I practice in the areas of Internet/IP law, which obviously involves litigation relating to unsolicited commercial email (or “spam,” as it’s colloquially known).  I have been involved in many different spam disputes, ranging from disputes involving well known Internet Service Providers (such as AOL, Microsoft, and Earthlink) to disputes involving not-so-well-known Internet Service Providers (people you have never heard of and who offer no “services” as such, but who regularly bring lawsuits under the wonderfully precisely crafted CAN-SPAM Act).

What: The blog will focus on all aspects of efforts to curb spam (predominantly) in the United States, including federal and state anti-spam laws, rulings interpreting these laws, and revisions or changes to these laws.  I may stray into related areas such as SMS spam, identity theft, phishing.  I may from time to time talk about the non-legal aspects of spam.  I may even talk about email etiquette.  Anything that relates to the channels and instrumentalities of electronic communications is fair game.

Why: “Spam law” is a relatively new and developing area of the law.  I have been involved in spam litigation in some form for the past three or so years.  Most of my work is on the defense side (although I’m not necessarily wedded to this position).   Through this work I have come to realize that most anti-spam legislation is poorly drafted (maybe all legislation is poorly drafted, who knows).  As with any other “new” area of the law, case law is establishing the rules in dribs and drabs.  I often speak with others who practice in this area who share their knowledge – which at this point mostly consists of stray judicial opinions and trends in the industry.  I lament the absence of a central resource treating this issue.  I am not so ambitious as to attempt to become this central clearinghouse.  I merely hope to share what I come across, and in the process fill a few gaps. 

More later, as they say.