AOL v. Prime Data Worldnet Systems, Inc. Press Release -  10/20/97

DULLES, VA, October 20, 1997 - America Online, Inc. [NYSE: AOL] took another step in its ongoing campaign to protect its nine million members from intrusive, unsolicited bulk e-mail from the Internet by filing suit in federal court (U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia) on Friday to block electronic mailings from a Kentucky-based mass mailer whose get-rich-fast "spam" mailings have accounted for millions of unsolicited e-mails sent to AOL members.

AOL charges that Prime Data Worldnet Systems, Inc., and its proprietor, Vernon N. Hale, violated federal and Virginia state law by flooding the AOL system with millions of unsolicited e-mails. Prime Data's mass mailing to AOL members advertised computer software products designed to enable other Internet users to transmit their own junk e-mail to AOL and its members. The Company said Hale and his firm also knowingly sent unsolicited bulk e-mail through multiple domains and deliberately sought to evade AOL's mail controls in order to send the unsolicited bulk mailings.

AOL said that Prime Data and Hale ignored the Company's repeated requests to desist from sending unsolicited bulk e-mails, and that Prime Data's use of deceptive AOL return addresses frustrated members' requests to be removed from spamming lists and implied falsely that America Online condoned his activities.

Sent from domains with names such as "getrichfast.com" and "lotsofmoney.com," Hale's e-mails promised the capability to build lists consisting of "millions of e-mail addresses in a very short period of time" using "Floodgate" (as in "open the floodgates to AOL") software. Hale's e-mails also advertised "Stealth Mailer" software specifically designed to defeat AOL's unsolicited junk e-mail technology blocks.

George Vradenburg, Senior Vice President and General Counsel of America Online, said, "Our message to Hale and other spammers is simple: We will pursue all legal remedies to protect our members and uphold the integrity of the AOL system."

"Spam is an annoying intrusion for users of the Internet and the result is aggravation and slower e-mail service, all because companies like Hale's Prime Data have not been held accountable for their flood of junk e-mail," continued Vradenburg. "The days of no accountability for spammers are over. We will make sure that spammers like Prime Data are held accountable to the law."

The filing against Hale and Prime Data, which seeks punitive and compensatory damages as well as injunctive relief, charges that the defendants violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the Lanham Act and the Virginia Computer Crimes Act. The Company also charges that Prime Data trespassed on the AOL service in their unceasing sending of millions of unwanted and unsolicited junk e-mails to AOL members.

The Prime Data suit is the second in recent weeks by AOL as part of its ongoing campaign to use legal action and sophisticated technologies to protect its members from unsolicited mail. Earlier this month, the Company filed suit to block Las Vegas-based Over the Air Equipment, Inc. from sending bulk e-mails which linked AOL members to their cyber-stripping sites on the World Wide Web.

In February, ruling on an AOL-filed suit, a federal court in Philadelphia ordered CyberPromotions, Inc. to cease using fictitious and unregistered domain addresses to send unsolicited e-mail to AOL member addresses. The court also ordered CyberPromotions to comply promptly with AOL members' requests for removal from its mailing lists, through the e-mail reply command.

America Online, Inc., based in Dulles, Virginia, is the world's leading Internet online service, with over nine million members worldwide. AOL, founded in 1985, offers its subscribers a wide variety of interactive services including electronic mail, Instant Message features, entertainment, reference, financial information, computing support, interactive magazines and newspapers, as well as easy access to all the services of the Internet.