AOL v. Over the Air Equipment Press Release - 12/18/97

DULLES, VA - December 18, 1997 -- America Online won a significant victory in its battle against spam when Over the Air Equipment, Inc., a junk e-mailer that advertised pornographic Web sites, surrendered in its fight against AOL and agreed to an injunction barring it from sending unsolicited e-mail to AOL members.

"Spammers have little regard for the people who receive their solicitations -- a problem that's only magnified when a child is on the receiving end of an objectionable piece of junk e-mail," said AOL chairman and CEO Steve Case. "That's why we're going to continue to use every tool at our disposal to fight against spam and work toward a long-term solution to this problem, which affects all Internet users."

Over the Air Equipment, which until recently was sending AOL members hundreds of thousands of junk e-mails a day advertising its pornographic Web sites, agreed to a court order which prohibits the company from ever sending unsolicited e-mail to AOL members again. Over the Air Equipment also agreed to pay AOL a substantial, but undisclosed, sum of money in damages.

America Online will apply the damages paid in this suit toward supporting industry-wide safety education initiatives aimed at young people and their parents. These initiatives will be a part of a nationwide 1998 back-to-school awareness campaign announced at the December 1997 Internet Online Summit: Focus on Children.

AOL hailed the action as a significant win in its war against junk e-mail. "This is not just a victory for AOL members, but a victory for every Internet user," said George Vradenburg, General Counsel at America Online. "The successful resolution of this lawsuit sends a pointed message to junk e-mailers that they will be held responsible for their actions."

The AOL suit, which was filed October 2, 1997, accused Over the Air Equipment of using deceptive practices, including falsifying e-mail transmission data, to avoid AOL's mail controls and to repeatedly transmit vast quantities of unsolicited e-mail to AOL members. E-mail sent to AOL members from Over the Air Equipment included a link to their cyber-stripper offerings on the Web.

The Las Vegas-based Over the Air Equipment agreed to drop its challenge to a preliminary injunction issued on October 31, 1997 by a federal court (U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia). When the preliminary injunction was issued, the judge found that AOL's efforts to block junk e-mail, including its efforts to obtain a court order against Over the Air Equipment, were in the public interest and that there was a substantial likelihood that AOL would prevail on its claims of Trespass and violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act against Over the Air Equipment.

"What is clear as we conclude this case is that the law is on our side - and we're going to continue to pursue cases until the message is felt throughout cyberspace that the days of no accountability to individuals and families that use the Internet and the companies that help them do it are over," said Vradenburg.