The company, Benchmark Print Supply, and its owner, Sam Khuri,
were said to be among the most prolific “spammers” in the US. The
temporary restraining order was issued by a US district court in
Georgia and will remain in place at least until an evidentiary
hearing next month, after which the court will decide whether the
restraining order should remain in effect for the duration of the
case.
E-mail service Friendly Email alleges that Benchmark and Khuri
have engaged in a malicious and illegal spam campaign involving
e-mails doctored to appear as though they were sent from a Friendly
Email account, the practice known as “spoofing”. This can
constitute state and federal violations of the rights of the
“spoofed” party, which typically suffers damage to its business
reputation and which must field thousands of misdirected complaints
from the disgruntled recipients of the e-mails.
The lawsuit also asks that Benchmark and Khuri be held in
contempt of court and liable for both criminal penalties and civil
damages for violating an order issued by the court earlier this
year in a related case. In that lawsuit, which involved the claims
of London e-mail service Bibliotech Limited against Benchmark and
Khuri, the parties entered into a settlement that extended spamming
and spoofing-related protections to all internet users, who were
expressly named as third-party beneficiaries of the settlement.
The settlement, which was incorporated into the court's final
order, marked the first resolution of a spam-related case that
involved protections for all internet users, rather than for only
those bringing the case.
