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Local lawyer, business owner fight fax spam

By DON LEHMAN, dlehman@poststar.com
Monday, January 29, 2007 10:19 PM EST

Like many business owners. Rich Frank is annoyed by the unsolicited faxes that arrive at his store daily from people trying to sell him something.

They advertise vacations, health care products, mortgage refinancing — virtually everything. Over the weekend, Frank's Saratoga Springs shop — Four Seasons Natural Foods — received eight alone.

"They tie up the fax line, burn up paper and ink," he said.

Like most people, Frank thought there was little he could do to stop the proliferation of fax spam, until customer and local lawyer Kurt Mausert mentioned a section of federal law he had come upon.

And though few people are aware of it, the law allows for civil penalties against the faxer for up to $1,500 per unwanted fax.

"Nobody knows about this. We all just put up with this annoyance thinking we have to," Mausert said.

So when Mausert's brother, who is a lawyer in Nevada, mentioned to him this section of law a few months ago, Mausert's interest was piqued. His Broadway law office receives quite a few such faxes, and he thought he'd see what he could do to stop it.

A couple of threatening letters later, he's collected $500 apiece from two violators.

And after mentioning the issue to Frank, he's since begun targeting those faxing his friend's business and gotten two settlement agreements for which he's awaiting $1,000 in payments for Frank.

"I hate spammers," Mausert said. "I'm telling every attorney. I want everybody in on this, because the more we get involved, the more chance we have of stopping it."

While it is a federal law, cases against the fax spammers can be brought in civil courts where the recipient lives. So far, Mausert has not had to file any lawsuits, with threatening letters generally getting the job done.

It's not free money, though.

Mausert said many of the faxers go to great lengths to hide who they are and where they are. Many use fake addresses, so tracking down their whereabouts can require a number of sleuthing techniques, he said. Some refuse to accept certified mail.

He said he believed one faxer he had been pursuing had committed identity theft, and Mausert contacted the FBI about the matter.

"I'm finding these people are slimy and sneaky, like cockroaches," he said. "Ninety percent of them play really hard to get. I had a woman tell me 'You can't catch us.' Most of them know what they're doing is illegal."

The pursuit, however, can be lucrative.

In a precedent-setting 1998 case, a Hooters bar/restaurant in Georgia was ordered to pay nearly $12 million for its faxing practices. And Mausert said a trial in California last fall led to a $253 million verdict against a company that sent 169,215 illegal faxes.

Frank, the Four Seasons owner, said he's not in it for the money,though.

He just wants to put an end to the faxes.

"If enough people get on this, it won't be profitable for them (the junk faxers), and then it will stop," he said. "There's a pretty big potential for this."