CHARLOTTE
CHICAGO
GENEVA
HONG KONG
LONDON
LOS ANGELES
MOSCOW
NEW YORK
NEWARK
PARIS
SAN FRANCISCO
WASHINGTON, D.C.
November 2009
SPECIAL ALERT
Social Networking Web site to Pay $750,000 for Sending Unsolicited and Deceptive Promotional Emails
The New York and Texas State attorneys general entered into settlement agreements with social networking Web site Tagged.com, after the attorneys general concluded that the Web site misappropriated its members’ contact lists and sent out millions of unsolicited and deceptive promotional emails to members’ contacts. The State attorneys general alleged that Tagged accessed the email contact lists of many of its members to send more than 60 million emails indicating that Tagged members had posted photographs online for their friends to view. The emails were designed to appear as though they were sent directly from a member’s personal email account, rather than from Tagged.com. Recipients of these emails were required to sign up as members of Tagged before discovering that the photographs often did not exist. In addition to paying $500,000 in New York and $250,000 in Texas, Tagged is required to provide clear and conspicuous disclosures when requesting access to a user’s email contacts. A potential class action against Tagged is pending in California for violations of the federal Stored Communications Act and Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
TIP: Provide clear and conspicuous disclosures and obtain consent prior to accessing your client’s email contacts or personal information for promotional purposes.
| If you have any questions concerning this Advertising & Promotion Law News Special Alert, please contact one of the following attorneys: | |||||
| Chicago | Los Angeles | Paris | |||
| Monique N. Bhargava | 312-558-3732 | David L. Aronoff | 213-615-1866 | Nathalie Hadjadj-Cazier | 33 (0) 1 53 64 81 50 |
| Stephen P. Durchslag | 312-558-5288 | Steven D. Atlee | 213-615-1827 | ||
| Brian D. Fergemann | 312-558-8024 | San Francisco | |||
| Jason W. Gordon | 312-558-6145 | New York | David S. Bloch | 415-591-1452 | |
| Brian L. Heidelberger | 312-558-5897 | Michael S. Elkin | 212-294-6745 | Andrew P. Bridges | 415-591-1482 |
| Robert H. Newman | 312-558-8125 | Thomas P. Lane | 212-294-6869 | Kimberly A. Eckhart | 415-591-6805 |
| Mary Hutchings Reed | 312-558-5721 | Michael J. Friedman | 212-294-2608 | Jennifer A. Golinveaux | 415-591-1506 |
| Ronald Y. Rothstein | 312-558-7464 | Joe DiBenedetto | 212-294-6709 | ||
| Liisa M. Thomas | 312-558-6149 | H. Joseph Mello | 212-294-6736 | Washington, D.C. | |
| Marc H. Trachtenberg | 312-558-7964 | Virginia R. Richard | 212-294-4639 | Michael L. Sibarium | 202-282-5702 |
Attorney Advertising Materials
These materials have been prepared by Winston &
Strawn for informational purposes only. These materials do not
constitute legal advice and cannot be relied upon by any taxpayer for the
purpose of avoiding penalties imposed under the Internal Revenue Code.
Receipt of this information does not create an attorney-client
relationship. No reproduction or redistribution without written permission
of Winston & Strawn LLP.
Along with this briefing, a library of all the Winston & Strawn LLP briefings published to date can be accessed by visiting the Publications Library section of Winston & Strawn LLP's Web site (www.winston.com).
Copyright © 2009. Winston & Strawn LLP.