The Internet Service Providers\u2019 Association (Ispa) has accepted an offer of R65,000 from Ketler Investments CC t\/a Ketler Presentations in full and final settlement of the costs incurred as a result of an ill-fated action brought against it by the online marketing company in June 2012.<\/p>\n
During June 2013, the South Gauteng High Court dismissed, with costs, an application by Ketler Presentations to censor Ispa\u2019s spam \u201cHall of Shame\u201d.<\/p>\n
The spam Hall of Shame is a webpage hosted on Ispa\u2019s website which lists South African companies that send out spam.<\/p>\n
Ketler had applied to the High Court in 2012 to try to force Ispa to remove its name from the Hall of Shame.<\/p>\n
The court agreed with ISPA that Ketler Presentations had contravened section 45 of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act of 2002 through the sending of unsolicited commercial communications, even after undertaking to Ispa that it would not do so after originally being listed in the Hall of Shame in 2009 as a repeat offender.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs Ketler Presentations and others have found to their cost, Ispa will defend its rights to take action against spammers in South Africa and, if necessary, pursue litigation aimed at protecting the rights of South African Internet consumers and ensuring a safe, accessible, and equitable local web,\u201d said Dominic Cull, Ispa regulatory advisor.<\/p>\n
Cull confirmed that Ispa has received a signed undertaking from Ketler Investments to cease spamming.<\/p>\n
The undertaking to observe best practice in the sending of commercial e-mail commits Ketler Investments to ensuring that it has properly obtained the consent of any consumer to which it sends commercial e-mail.<\/p>\n
The company further confirmed that all purchased e-mail addresses in respect of which it did not have proof of consent have been deleted from its systems.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is probably the first substantial penalty paid by a local sender of unsolicited commercial e-mail communications, even if it is indirectly,\u201d Cull said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is at least one less unwanted inbox intruder for a lot of South African Internet users after the conclusion of this matter,\u201d he said, adding that the implementation of the Protection of Personal Information Act over the next few years could well tip the scales if people exercise the rights it gives them.<\/p>\n
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