Note To Self: Don’t Piss Off Washington

August 16th, 2006 Davis Posted in Spam |

I only lived in Seattle for three years, but it was long enough to get a sense of the pride that the Evergreen state takes in their sense of privacy. Washington was one of the first states to pass laws combatting spam and they’ve taken an aggressive stance against online marketing abuses that occur within in their state. In their latest move to combat spyware, Washington state has sued Movieland.com for alleging offering a “free three day trial” and then spamming users with pop ups saying that they owed them money.

I hope that Movieland gets buried by this lawsuit. If what is being alleged is true, they deserve to have an example made out of them. I understand that it’s tempting to use slime ball tactics to make money, but with so many opportunities out there, it’s really not necessary to try and scam people in order to make a living. Pop ups are bad enough, but to tell people that they owe money for a free trial is even worse.