Spamhaus Agrees to Fight Court Case
It took a threat of domain seizure, but spam-fighting organization Spamhaus will appeal an Illinois court ruling against it. Late last week, lawyers for the group filed documents with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois saying they intended to appeal.
According to the brief, Spamhaus contends that it should not be forced to pay the $11.7 million judgment against it to e360insight, and should not be forced to shut down if it does not comply. The move comes after the group previously claimed the U.S. court had no jurisdiction over it.
In the original case, the group failed to appeal at court hearings in the matter. Thus, the judge entered a default judgment against Spamhaus, ordering the payment of damages along with several other conditions.
Spamhaus' initial reaction was defiant, telling BetaNews that it had no US assets that the courts could seize. But indeed it does: Spamhaus registered its domain, spamhaus.org, through US-based Tucows, and domains are controlled by ICANN, which is still a US government entity.
The group's latest move signals that Spamhaus acknowledges that it is at risk of shutdown if it continues its defiant stance. It is the first time that the company has had to defend itself against a lawsuit from an alleged spammer.
"Although Spamhaus is based in the United Kingdom, unsurprisingly no spammers risk filing lawsuits in a British court, primarily because the UK legal system is based on 'loser pays costs' and does not allow frivolous lawsuits," the organization contends.
Neither side has made any further public comments on the appeal as of press time.