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First Steps by Bruce Miller Updated January 8, 2002 Here are the steps I take before I even consider filing a law suit. I register my e-mail addresses at http://registry.waisp.org. to help substantiate that I am a Washington State Resident. I determine if my Internet Service Provider will be (or would have been) willing to verify that I am a Washington State Resident. (If they can't or won't I might be able to claim damages anyway. If there was a method for a spammer to know of my Washington State residency, then I can make a case. This is why the registry is a good step to help substantiate my residency.) I determine if the spam actually violates the law. In the case of the spammer that sent the money order, it was rather obvious, because the FROM field said "fau30@successmail@usa.net", and we all know that this is an invalid e-mail address designed misrepresent the point of origin of the message. That address violates this provision of the law: "Uses a third party's internet domain name without permission of the third party, or otherwise misrepresents any information in identifying the point of origin or the transmission path of a commercial electronic mail message." If all of the above seems to be in order, I do adequate research to insure I know who is responsible for the spam. A business or person might hire a spam bureau to do the spamming, as was the case with the Aurora Nissan Dealership in Seattle. Generally, the person or business responsible is the person or business to authorize the action. The person or business responsible is who I go after. Sometimes finding this out requires some research. If there are any phone numbers in the spam, I pretend to be a potential customer, not an outraged victim. The goal is to get information to help me substantiate who authorized the spam. In the case of the money order above, the spammer sent information that identified himself and his address. I then mail a demand-for-damages letter offering to settle out of court. (I don't bother with return-receipt.) Sometimes, not always, I enclose a complaint ready to file. (I don't bother putting it on pleading paper.) A sample complaint that I use as a guideline follows my sample letter. I give them two weeks or so to respond. In each letter I decide what value to put in the demand. I almost always do not include my phone number or email address (unless in the spam message) in the letter. The reason for this is simple. I want to force a written reply. What I have found is that some perpetrators will not reply. But about 90% who do reply in writing make some sort of statement to indicate responsibility for the spam. These type of statements can be very handy in court if you decide to go to court.