Kodak Photo Service Fined for Spamming

By the Betanews Staff | Published May 12, 2006, 2:04 PM

Digital photo service Kodak Imaging Network, previously known as Ofoto, has settled charges it sent nearly 2 million unsolicited e-mails without a way to opt out, a violation of the CAN-SPAM Act. The Federal Trade Commission imposed a $26,331 penalty for the infraction, which is the total of the proceeds from the e-mail campaign.

Kodak is additionally now required to keep records and report to the FTC to ensure compliance. The CAN-SPAM Act requires that e-mail marketers give an option to opt out of unsolicited e-mails. The messages must be identified as an ad and include a vaiid postal address. The law also bars misleading subject lines or header information to conceal the identity of the sender.

Comments

View comments by with a score of at least

OK so Kodak screwed up. That's all this was - a typical corporate screwup. Sure, it's important to punish it, but this is far from being a victory over real spammers. Kodak has invested millions in its brand names for decades; real spammers don't want you to know their names, must less their real email addresses, IP addresses, or even their country.

Wake me up if the FTC ever manages to hold a real spammer accountable and make real progress in the fight against spam.

Score: 0

|

Didn't make much did they?
$26K from 2M contacts.

Score: 0

|

I have seen that kind of math before. Accountants are pretty sneaky. Let's see, Our 2M emails netted us $10M. But after we take out the cost of servers, personnel, internet access, strategic planning consultants, lawyer fees, the new boat, 2nd home in Maui, etc..... somehow it was only really worth $26k.

Score: 0

|

Kodak spamming? Ahh...maybe my suspicions about their "Easyshare" having spyware bundled with it is not so far off target after all--

Score: 0

|

dude, the only point to that garbage software could only be spyware, it's so god awful i can't imagine what other purpose it could serve. I actually gave it a chance with my camera, what a nightmare.

Score: 0

|

$26k for 2M advertizing points....That's still cheaper than direct mail.

Score: 0

|

APMD!

(all spammers must die). Damn bas****s. good company, bad company, porn, I don't care. If you send me an email, you get one, *ONE* chance to get me off your damn list. If I get another email, ater the allotted time to be removed, I am PISSED, and you get reported as SPAM! PERIOD!!!

Score: 0

|

"APMD!

(all spammers must die)"

lmao... Shouldn't that be ASMD?

I suppose *someone's* gotta smoke all that crack.

Score: 0

|

Wow. $26k. The government can now add another Nissan Altima to its fleet. Yay. That's vaiid.

Score: 0

|

Or two Fully loaded Toyota Yaris Hatchbacks.

Score: 0

|

PDC 2009: What have we learned this week?

There was the freebie that no one will forget, the heebie-jeebies courtesy of Scott Guthrie, and a teensy bit clearer picture of how this cloud thingie should work.

Live report: Will Google Chrome OS change Linux?

The mysteries of just what Chrome OS is, and how much of an operating system it truly is, may be resolved today.

PDC 2009: Microsoft cares about Web browser performance

The effort to give users of the world's dominant Web browser the impression of quality, is a personal one for the man who leads that battle.

Nokia re-affirms its commitment to Symbian, sort of

Maemo won't necessarily be replacing Symbian in the Nokia N-Series, but that's definitely a place where it will be found.

E-book readers will be in short supply this holiday season

E-readers are hot this year, and a lot of compelling new products have been released, but are there enough electrophoretic displays to go around?

Sony looks to finally open a single storefront for downloads

Sony has had many different download portals for movies, music, e-books, and games, and now it's looking to make a single shop for all of it.

Tuning out the tablet: Time to give the endless speculation a rest

Wide Angle Zoom: Wishing and hoping and thinking and praying....won't put an iTablet on the market.

Five improvements for IT managers in 2010

If businesses are to improve their efficiency for next year, they need to stop and reassess the basic tenets of their job.

AOL's spinoff from Time Warner to shed 2,500 jobs

As AOL moves toward become an independent company again, it will cut nearly a third of its workforce.

Gartner: SMS-based money transfer will be bigger than mobile browsing, search

Gartner issues its predictions for the 10 things our phones will be doing in 2012.

Don't forget to upgrade to Firefox 3.6 beta 3 today

Mozilla has released the latest beta its Firefox 3.6 browser software, just over one week after beta 2.