Pop-Ups are the Spawn of Hades

Originally posted by boeingfixer

If you are a Star Trek fan, does the word "Tribble" mean anything to you ? No matter what you do, they just keep multipling !!!!

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By JANE HADLEY
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER CONSUMER AFFAIRS REPORTER

Ben Schroeter, a Magnolia paralegal and live music Webmaster who hates telemarketing calls, knows that holding companies accountable can be a long, weary struggle.

So he was stunned when his e-mail complaining about an automated message left on his answering machine yielded a $500 check and an apology two weeks later.

"Usually, you have to at least file a suit before they're going to pay up," said Schroeter incredulously.

Under state law, automated dialing and announcing devices that dial a residence and play a recorded message for purposes of a commercial solicitation are illegal. And residents who get such calls are entitled to damages of at least $500 per call. The federal law is similar, said Paula Selis, senior counsel in the state Attorney General's Office.

Selis said she was amazed at the quick response from the company behind the calls, DHS Enterprises of South Euclid, Ohio.

So was Ben Livingston, one of the state's leading battlers against automated dialers, spam and junk faxes.

"I don't think it's ever been that simple (for me)," said Livingston, who says he's collected $2,650 for illegal spam, faxes or automated calls in the past year.

Schroeter's check cleared yesterday.

"Party at my place," he chortled.

The automated call Schroeter got March 15 was on behalf of a Web site, "YourHomeCareer.com," which invites consumers to pay $36 to learn the secret of earning money by working at home. A home page testimonial says that "Anthony P., a former corporate employee, now works from home and earns over $35,000 per month!"

Schroeter, who already works at home and consequently hates telemarketing calls more than the average person, is dubious about the site's promises.

The phone at DHS Enterprises was perpetually busy yesterday, and the company could not be reached.

When the mail carrier delivered the certified mail to Schroeter last week, his first thought was: "Oh my God! This guy's going to sue me now." He hesitated about signing for the letter, but then decided to take the plunge.

Five minutes after seeing the $500 check, Schroeter was heading to the bank to cash it. Then he e-mailed and called family and friends to exult about it. "Woo hoo!" he wrote.

Washington state was one of 21 states that defended the law's constitutionality before the U.S. Supreme Court in a 1993 case. The court upheld it.

"We have not seen an increase (in illegal calls) recently," Selis said. "They come and they go. Washington consumers are remarkably savvy, in that when they do start coming in, we do start getting complaints."The spur for the 1986 law, Selis said, is that in some cases, people could not hang up on the prerecorded messages, which prevented them from making emergency calls or conducting their business.

Schroeter's e-mail message to DHS was short but not especially sweet:

"This email is to notify you that I received an invasive and illegal automated telephone solicitation this afternoon from your company DHS Enterprises, or 'Your Home Careers.' The use of Automatic dialing and announcing devices to Washington State residents is illegal. Your company now owes me $500 by state law. I have preserved the message that was left on my answering machine as proof for the court."

Schroeter included a copy of the law in his e-mail and also included a "cc:" to an assistant attorney general who is a friend of Schroeter's but who has nothing to do with consumer protection or telecommunications.

"My thinking is that when they received this and saw that I had cc'd a real person in the AG's office, they might have thought, 'You know, we really don't need an AG from any state breathing down our necks right now, because we've got these $36 payments coming in."

Schroeter says he got the inspiration to pursue the call from reading about Livingston's successes.

Livingston, vice president of Innovative Access, a Ballard Internet service provider, says that he has won judgments or settlements of more than $9,000 for illegal spam, telemarketing and junk faxes, of which he's succeeded in collecting $2,650.

"My advice would be to take action," he says. "In the case of junk faxes and telemarketing, it's quite possible in the foreseeable future you can cut down on a lot of this stuff. In the longer-term sense, I think it's also true with e-mail spam. If people don't take action, nobody's going to stop doing it."

Livingston's cases are detailed on a Web site http://smallclaim.info which even includes audio recordings of some of his court sessions.

Livingston believes that companies that want to stay in business are more likely to settle or pay up than fly-by-night companies. He has used several collection agencies, but so far without success.

"I filed one case where their lawyer contacted me and said, 'Come down to my office and I'll give you a check.' It's never been so easy as just sending e-mail.

"Yeah, I was pretty impressed by that guy (Schroeter)."


IT'S THE LAW

The law against automated dialing and announcing devices is part of the state's telecommunications law and can be found at RCW 80.36.400.


The law describes an automatic dialing and announcing device as one that automatically dials telephone numbers and plays a recorded message once a connection is made. Making such a call is illegal if it involves commercial solicitation, which is defined as the unsolicited initiation of a telephone conversation for the purpose of encouraging a person to purchase property, goods, or services.


The ban applies to all commercial solicitation intended to be received by telephone customers within the state.


A violation of the law is a violation of the state's Consumer Protection Act.


The law says that "It shall be presumed that damages to the recipient of commercial solicitations made using an automatic dialing and announcing device are five hundred dollars."

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Originally posted by Goofy Newfie
I would love to 86 the wonderful people who designed Comet Cursor! They intentionally trick people into downloading it, sometimes without warning. Has anybody else run into CC?

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