A U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia judge ruled the court did not have jurisdiction over the case, brought against a group of Florida-based computer technicians, despite the offending e-mails being sent through systems located in the state and to Internet users located in Virginia.
According to reports, AOL seems likely to pursue the case in another jurisdiction, with company spokesman Nicholas Graham quoted as saying "the ruling also does nothing to prevent these defendants from being sued in Florida, where they live".
A high proportion of U.S. Internet traffic is routed through Virginia due to AOL's presence there, as well as 1,300 other ISP's and technology companies, the reports say.
I am sick of AOL interferring in my business , see below, they have got too big for there own boots and now they have taken the liberty of scanning perosnal mail and deciding if they should send or not, what a cheek , they are costing legitimate business operators from communicating with partners in business.
see below my comments to AOL
From: ian morrison
Date: 01/21/04 20:53:53
To: AussieHelp@aol.com
Subject: Re AOL interference
Attention CEO of AOL
My name is Ian Morrison and I am writing to complain not only too you here in Australia but overseas as well , I own and manage a huge international business with the company below and yet your company is restricting our business in a very big way , I have over 1000 members in my organization with AOL e-mail addresses and we can not even communicate between ourselves due to your company who I believe are infringing on the privacy rights of individuals by scanning our e-mail and if it has a URL as that below even if it is a hyperlink your company will not send to my business people or to people who have requested information , In the last week I have had to inform over 2000 people that they will have to cancel there AOL accounts so that we can communicate , let me just say that I am very aware of spamming laws around the world and yes it is possible that some material from other people associated with FSC may or may not have sent material to people who did not request such , although my experience is that most of the individuals who complain about spam are also the very same people who sign up for everything that's free on the Internet and then forget what all the things were they requested , However it is my strong belief that no e-mail server has the right to scan personal information and then decide if it will be delivered , like I said I have over 1000 members who just happen to be using AOL and in the last week these people were deprived of some very important business material , The amount of people who are complaining about AOL and there stupid procedure is growing by the hundreds each day , As for me I am seeking Legal advise as your interference in people being able to communicate has cost my Company and that of many hundreds more an enormous amount of money and time , If an individual has a spam issue then I would suggest that they take it up with who ever sent it and or report it to authorities , Myself and my business members do not and certainly do not practice unsolicited sending of material , Today I sent out material to 5000 people who had requested information legally and legitimately from my business center , of those 5000 549 were AOL users and not one of them received my material and they are fuming about your service , I have had to send another e-mail to all of the AOL users to explain that your company as chosen to illegally in my opinion scan my material and then decide not to pass onto legitimate people who were waiting to receive such, if you are going to continue then i will be asking my 3500 business members to write to all there members and ask those who are AOL users to cease immediately , How bloody cheeky are you people to decide what mail gets sent , I am sure if the postal service was to open our letters or parcels and then decide it they were going to deliver or not they would end up in court very very quickly .
I ask that here in Australia that you pass on this letter to your US counter parts and other countries associated and let them know that there is a growing anger from thousands of people all around the world that now have AOL in there sights either by Court action or by ensuring that people stay clear of your e-mail service , who ever the Turkey was that thought that this kind of procedure was the way to go should be sacked and replaced as he is certainly not a clear thinker and if he had been smart enough he would have seen what the out come would have been from thousands and thousands of people all around the world