AOL Sues 3 Firms That Send Bulk E-Mail

On the heels of federal court victories, America Online has filed suit against a Southland bulk e-mail company and two others, seeking injunctions and unspecified damages. In a suit filed in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va., the nation’s largest online service accused TSF Marketing of Riverside; IMS of Knoxville, Tenn.; and Gulf Coast Marketing of Baton Rouge, La., of stuffing members’ electronic mailboxes with unsolicited bulk e-mails with bogus return addresses and refusing to stop when asked to do so by AOL. George Vradenburg, AOL’s general counsel, said the damages sought were substantial and “enough to deter these people.” No one could be reached at the three companies, and only TSF Marketing had a telephone line. The suit follows a December ruling enjoining Over the Air Equipment Inc. from sending similar bulk e-mails--the Internet equivalent of junk mail--to AOL members and forcing it to pay damages to AOL. AOL has also won injunctions against several other bulk e-mailers.