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Firm’s Client Obtains $236 Million Judgment in Spam Lawsuit

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CIS Internet Services Receives $236 Million Anti-Spam Judgment Against Henry Perez And Suzanne Bartok -- Husband and Wife Team Found Individually Liable

Husband and wife team found individually liable for violation of Iowa's anti-spam statute.

Clinton, IA (eMediaWorld) October 5, 2008 -- Robert W. Kramer, III, owner and operator of CIS Internet Services, has received a 236 million dollar judgment against two individual defendants, Henry Perez and Suzanne Bartok following trial for violation of Iowa's anti-spam statute. The verdict was entered on September 30, 2008 in the United States District Court, Southern District of Iowa, Davenport Division, by Judge John A. Jarvey.

Mr. Kramer was represented by Cedar Rapids attorney, Matthew L. Preston, with the Brady & O'Shea, P.C. law firm.

The Court found that husband and wife Perez and Bartok sent over 23 million emails advertising mortgage loan refinancing services to CIS computers in 2003.

This judgment is unique in that corporate officers Perez and Bartok were held personally liable and not protected by the limited liability of their corporation. The Court found that: "While Bartok may not have been the 'person' hitting the 'send' button to create the spam e-mail, she was half owner of a business whose sole source of income was predicated on illegal spamming."

Kramer said, "I'm very pleased with this substantial ruling. I hope it sends the appropriate message that spamming will not be tolerated. There will likely always be spammers and spam, but this ruling makes it clear they risk an economic death penalty and exposure to public ridicule."

Prior to this judgment, CIS and Robert W. Kramer III had won substantial awards from other email spammers.

CIS started in 1996 as a dial-up ISP serving customers in Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois -- from Dubuque to Keokuk. CIS offered the first Web connection in dozens of communities. Today CIS provides high-speed DSL, wireless broadband, T1 replacements, digital dial-up and virtual Web hosting. CIS is the only high-speed service available to many rural homes and businesses in Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois. CIS is based in Clinton, IA.

Spam generators dealt $236M judgment

from the Quad City Times, October 6, 2008
by Ann McGlynn

An Arizona couple must pay a Clinton, Iowa-based Internet service provider $236 million for e-mail spam sent to the company’s servers, a federal judge has ruled.

Henry Perez and Suzanne Bartok must pay Robert Kramer, doing business as CIS Internet Services, $236,480,660, Judge John Jarvey ruled in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa.

Kramer is “very pleased” with the ruling, said Matt Preston, his attorney. Furthermore, he hopes it serves as a strong message to these defendants and other spammers that there are “severe consequences” for that activity.

The lawsuit against Perez and Bartok is a companion to another action filed against several spammers, also in U.S. District Court. Kramer was awarded more than $11 billion from spammers in that action. The five-year-old lawsuit continues to wind its way through the court.

In the Perez and Bartok action, Kramer and his attorney, Kelly Wallace of Atlanta, used a link included in the spam e-mails to trace the source, documents show.

According to Jarvey’s order, filed in response to a trial held in November: Perez and Bartok, husband and wife, owned AMP Dollar Savings, which did business under that name as well as Sensible Savings, Plastic Profits, Mortgageleads.tv and Leads.tv. Kramer and his service offers Internet access to customers, mostly within a 25-mile range of Clinton.

Kramer spent $35,000 by 2003 to upgrade to two dozen servers, three of which exclusively handled spam. He spent 60 hours a week doing so.

A program called Bulk Mailing 4 Dummies included 2.8 million e-mail addresses for Kramer’s domain name, cis.net, even though the domain had only 6,000 unique e-mail addresses. However, the software allowed users to send millions of e-mails to Kramer’s servers. The servers would then have to sort them out as spam.

Kramer hired Wallace to determine the source of the spam. He set Wallace up with 36 addresses from the Bulk Mailing 4 Dummies list for cis.net and removed the spam filters so Wallace could receive the e-mails.

In October 2003, Wallace received a spam e-mail promoting refinancing a home mortgage. He clicked on “Click here for our special low rates,” which took him to a loan refinancing Web site. He filled out a form using a fake name and address but real cell phone number.

A representative from a company called Cal Capital contacted him. A subpoena revealed Cal Capital received its leads from Mortgageleads.tv, with Bartok signing the agreement.

Kramer was then able to determine, using user names and domain names, that 23,648,066 spam e-mails were sent to his servers from that entity.

Perez denied sending the e-mails. Judge Jarvey, however, called his testimony “very confusing” and “inconsistent.” He awarded Kramer $10 per e-mail.

“The court simply does not believe Mr. Perez or Ms. Bartok,” Jarvey wrote. “They generated leads, they solicited customers for the leads, sold the leads and received the profits from this illegal business. Perez, in particular, was experienced with spam. The claim that they conveniently but inadvertently destroyed all the records of their company, just prior to being served with a civil action, rings hollow.”


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Firm News Firm’s Client Obtains $236 Million Judgment in Spam Lawsuit Helpful Links: CIS Internet Services Receives $236 Million Anti-Spam Judgment Against Henry Perez And Suzanne Bartok -- Husband and Wife Team Found Individually Liable Husband and wife team found individually liable for violation of Iowa's anti-spam statute. Clinton, IA (eMediaWorld) October 5, 2008 -- Robert W. Kramer, III, owner and operator of CIS Internet Services, has received a 236 million dollar judgment against two individual defendants, Henry Perez and Suzanne Bartok following trial for violation of Iowa's anti-spam statute. The verdict was entered on September 30, 2008 in the United States District Court, Southern District of Iowa, Davenport Division, by Judge John A. Jarvey. Mr. Kramer was represented by Cedar Rapids attorney, Matthew L. Preston, with the Brady & O'Shea, P.C. law firm. The Court found that husband and wife Perez and Bartok sent over 23 million emails advertising mortgage loan refinancing services to CIS computers in 2003. This judgment is unique in that corporate officers Perez and Bartok were held personally liable and not protected by the limited liability of their corporation. The Court found that: "While Bartok may not have been the 'person' hitting the 'send' button to create the spam e-mail, she was half owner of a business whose sole source of income was predicated on illegal spamming." Kramer said, "I'm very pleased with this substantial ruling. I hope it sends the appropriate message that spamming will not be tolerated. There will likely always be spammers and spam, but this ruling makes it clear they risk an economic death penalty and exposure to public ridicule." Prior to this judgment, CIS and Robert W. Kramer III had won substantial awards from other email spammers. CIS started in 1996 as a dial-up ISP serving customers in Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois -- from Dubuque to Keokuk. CIS offered the first Web connection in dozens of communities. Today CIS provides high-speed DSL, wireless broadband, T1 replacements, digital dial-up and virtual Web hosting. CIS is the only high-speed service available to many rural homes and businesses in Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois. CIS is based in Clinton, IA. Spam generators dealt $236M judgment from the Quad City Times, October 6, 2008 by Ann McGlynn An Arizona couple must pay a Clinton, Iowa-based Internet service provider $236 million for e-mail spam sent to the company’s servers, a federal judge has ruled. Henry Perez and Suzanne Bartok must pay Robert Kramer, doing business as CIS Internet Services, $236,480,660, Judge John Jarvey ruled in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa. Kramer is “very pleased” with the ruling, said Matt Preston, his attorney. Furthermore, he hopes it serves as a strong message to these defendants and other spammers that there are “severe consequences” for that activity. The lawsuit against Perez and Bartok is a companion to another action filed against several spammers, also in U.S. District Court. Kramer was awarded more than $11 billion from spammers in that action. The five-year-old lawsuit continues to wind its way through the court. In the Perez and Bartok action, Kramer and his attorney, Kelly Wallace of Atlanta, used a link included in the spam e-mails to trace the source, documents show. According to Jarvey’s order, filed in response to a trial held in November: Perez and Bartok, husband and wife, owned AMP Dollar Savings, which did business under that name as well as Sensible Savings, Plastic Profits, Mortgageleads.tv and Leads.tv. Kramer and his service offers Internet access to customers, mostly within a 25-mile range of Clinton. Kramer spent $35,000 by 2003 to upgrade to two dozen servers, three of which exclusively handled spam. He spent 60 hours a week doing so. A program called Bulk Mailing 4 Dummies included 2.8 million e-mail addresses for Kramer’s domain name, cis.net, even though the domain had only 6,000 unique e-mail addresses. However, the software allowed users to send millions of e-mails to Kramer’s servers. The servers would then have to sort them out as spam. Kramer hired Wallace to determine the source of the spam. He set Wallace up with 36 addresses from the Bulk Mailing 4 Dummies list for cis.net and removed the spam filters so Wallace could receive the e-mails. In October 2003, Wallace received a spam e-mail promoting refinancing a home mortgage. He clicked on “Click here for our special low rates,” which took him to a loan refinancing Web site. He filled out a form using a fake name and address but real cell phone number. A representative from a company called Cal Capital contacted him. A subpoena revealed Cal Capital received its leads from Mortgageleads.tv, with Bartok signing the agreement. Kramer was then able to determine, using user names and domain names, that 23,648,066 spam e-mails were sent to his servers from that entity. Perez denied sending the e-mails. Judge Jarvey, however, called his testimony “very confusing” and “inconsistent.” He awarded Kramer $10 per e-mail. “The court simply does not believe Mr. Perez or Ms. Bartok,” Jarvey wrote. “They generated leads, they solicited customers for the leads, sold the leads and received the profits from this illegal business. Perez, in particular, was experienced with spam. The claim that they conveniently but inadvertently destroyed all the records of their company, just prior to being served with a civil action, rings hollow.”