Peter Hall vs EarthLink: Legal Dispute Over Spam Misclassification

Peter Hall's troubles with spam began the week of Aug. 5, 1997, when the New York-based independent film producer learned that his EarthLink account had been shut off without warning. EarthLink, a leading Internet service provider (ISP), had concluded--incorrectly, it . . .

Peter Hall's troubles with spam began the week of Aug. 5, 1997, when the New York-based independent film producer learned that his EarthLink account had been shut off without warning. EarthLink, a leading Internet service provider (ISP), had concluded--incorrectly, it turns out--that Hall was a spammer. The company terminated Hall's e-mail account but chose not to bounce or forward his e-mail messages. It instead quietly stored them in a mail spool. Anyone sending Hall e-mail likely concluded that the message had gone through.

This week, a federal judge in New York is scheduled to hear arguments in a $2 million lawsuit that Hall filed against EarthLink a year later. It claims that EarthLink violated the law and that the missed e-mail resulted in his low-budget film "Delinquent" becoming a flop. (The film, which described a tortured teen's conflict with his abusive father, did manage to score a favorable review from The Village Voice, which dubbed it "raw, restless, contemplative and haunting.")

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