Article: Unsolicited Commercial E-mail, the Internet and the First Amendment: Another Free Speech Showdown in Cyberspace?

Late in 1997, the on-line industry stepped up its efforts to fight the growing problem of unsolicited commercial e-mail (UCE). UCE, also known as junk e-mail, or "spam,"(1) had become so pervasive and the methods used by bulk e-mailers or "spammers" so unscrupulous, that some Internet Service Providers (ISPs) resorted to high tech, electronic "bombings" to shut junk e-mailers down.

Most of the disputes, however, shifted to the courtroom. The nation's largest on-line service provider, America Online (AOL), declaring the equivalent of war against spammers, filed dozens of civil lawsuits against bulk e-mailers ("America Online again takes aim at operators of ...

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