A California Internet company, AvTech Direct, which sent spam emails to the Seattle school district and non-profit organizations around the country, is the defendant in a lawsuit filed by the state Attorney General’s office. This is the state’s first action taken under provisions of the federal law against unwanted and deceptive e-mail traffic.

The defendants have allegedly marketed the sale of desktop computers to consumers in Washington and throughout the United States through unsolicited commercial e-mail, also known as SPAM. The e-mails are directed towards specific groups, such as educational staff or healthcare workers; they are flagged as high priority and appear to have been sent from within the recipient’s own organization.

There have been thousands of solicitations to Seattle school district employees since the beginning of 2004. In a two-month period, between May and July, 2004, Seattle school employees received more than 1,500 solicitations which offered “brand-new, top of the line, name brand computers at 50 percent off” the manufacturer’s suggested retail price.

The lawsuit alleges that the defendants violated both federal and state spam laws by including false header information, thereby obscuring the e-mails’ point of origin; including misleading subject lines such as “Staff Bulletin” to grab the attention of recipients; and failing to honor recipients’ requests to opt out of receiving future solicitations. The state is asking for damages of up to $500 per violation, plus injunctive relief, which would prohibit AvTech Direct and its affiliates from violating federal and state statues.