Funny Kerfuffle Watch: Magilla Part of Anti-Spammer Tiff

An opinion piece that appeared in this newsletter last year is at the center of a dispute between a fairly prominent anti-spammer and a lawyer who has defended clients against him.

At issue is the Web page DanHateSpam.com [notice there’s only one S in the URL] currently owned by Bennet Kelley, an attorney who has represented marketers in lawsuits brought by anti-spammers.

DanHatesSpam.com [with two S’s] is owned by Dan Balsam, a litigious anti-spammer and lawyer who helped craft an ill-fated California bill intended to outlaw deceptive subject lines, among other things.

Kelley and Balsam apparently don’t care for one another.

One day, Kelley attempted to go to DanHatesSpam.com, but mistyped it as DanHateSpam.com with one S.

It turned out no one owned the URL, so Kelley bought it. He then used the domain to link to a column in which I took issue with the anti-spam law Balsam was trying to get passed and some inaccuracies he had written about me.

As a result, anyone who types DanHateSpam with one S gets a column of mine critical of Balsam. According to our records, DanHateSpam with one S has driven 280 referrals to the site where Magilla Marketing’s content is published, DirectMag.com.

“We’ve been sparring going back to 2003,” said Kelley of his relationship with Balsam. When asked what his goal with the site was, Kelley said: “It was kind of a lark to tweak him.

And tweak him it apparently did. According to Kelley, Balsam is threatening to sue him for typo squatting. Kelley added he wasn’t sure how 280 people including Dan Balsam found DanHateSpam.com, but surmised someone stumbled upon it and spread the word to others.

Kelley added he believes Balsam’s case against him for alleged typo squatting is weak.

“The problem is this isn’t commercial use,” said Kelley.

When asked what he intends to do with DanHateSpam with one S, Kelley said he’d be willing to reach an unspecified agreement with Balsam to take the site down.

“We’ll work out an appropriate resolution,” said Kelley. “At some point one of us has to act like a grown up.”

Reached by e-mail, Balsam responded: “My lawsuit against Kelley—if and when it happens—has little to do with your rebuttal piece. Did Kelley happen to mention that I have registered California and federal trademarks for DanHatesSpam.com? He's typosquatting/cybersquatting on my registered trademark. For that, there may be litigation.”