ISP Can Finally Disconnect Spammer, Court Rules
After more than a year of battling with bulk e-mailer MonsterHut, a Rochester-based Internet service provider (ISP) has been given permission by a New York State appeals court to disconnect the company it says is a notorious spammer.
The decision Friday reversed lower court rulings last year that kept MonsterHut.com online even though PaeTec Communications of Fairport, N.Y., near Rochester, said MonsterHut had contravened its anti-spam policy.
Niagara Falls, N.Y.-based MonsterHut, whose bulk e-mail promoted "natural marriage enhancers" and "BeSlimmer" weight-loss products or carried messages for such clients as Overstock.com, ProFlowers.com and Beaverhome.com, launched a lawsuit after PaeTec served notice that it would terminate its Internet access contract.
Last March, State Supreme Court Judge John Lane in Niagara County granted MonsterHut a preliminary injunction that prevented PaeTec from disconnecting the marketer, then ruled a few months later that the ISP's ambiguous service contract failed to prohibit MonsterHut's activities.
