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Electronic Torts
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Abuse of new technology is rampant, especially in the communications fields.
Federal and state statutes authorize private suits for abuses via telephone and facsimile. In 1991 Congress enacted the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, creating a private right to sue for certain telemarketing practices and for unwanted advertisements via facsimile ("junk faxes"). Amended in 2006, the TCPA allows fixed damages of $500 per violation, or up $1500 if the conduct is "knowing or willful."
The nuisance of unwanted commercial e-mail has also prompted states and the federal government to enact enforcement legislation, much of it creating private causes of action. The federal "CAN SPAM" Act, passed by Congress in December, 2003, is a mechanism for government enforcement, and supersedes all state spam laws except those based on deception. Several state statutes create a private right of action where the e-mail is unsolicited, or contains a deceptive subject line or transmission path. Whether CAN-SPAM preempts a particular state statute depends on whether the statute requires deception as an element of the offense, and whether the deception is "material."
The unauthorized disclosure of personal data, such as credit, income or medical information, is another area of abuse that has prompted the states to pass enforcement legislation. Some states allow recovery of civil damages for the unlawful dissemination of private information.
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Suit Docs
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