A Mississippi court has ruled that the sending of just one
unsolicited commercial e-mail to a person in Mississippi was
sufficient for it to find personal jurisdiction over a spammer
located outside the state, according to a report by New York firm
Brown Raysman Millstein Felder & Steiner.
Internet Doorway, a Mississippi-based ISP, took action against
Texas resident Connie Davis and others, who were sending spam
e-mails which contained a forged return address, suggesting that
they came from the ISPs system, a practice known as spoofing.
Internet Doorway’s claim was based on trade mark infringement and
trespass.
The court rejected Ms Davis’ claim that it lacked jurisdiction
over her, ruling that she was “doing business” in the state of
Mississippi by sending the e-mail advertisement to a Mississippi
resident, the crucial act being the recipient's opening of the
e-mail, not the sending. It also ruled that a single contact with a
Mississippi resident was sufficient. The judge concluded,
"By sending an e-mail solicitation to the
far reaches of the earth for pecuniary gain, one does so at her own
peril, and cannot then claim that it is not reasonably foreseeable
that she will be hauled into court in a distant jurisdiction to
answer for the ramifications of that solicitation."
