United States of America v. Impulse Media Group Inc

Filing 27

RESPONSE, by Plaintiff United States of America, to 23 MOTION for Summary Judgment. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit 21# 2 Exhibit 22)(Hash, Lauren)

Case 2:05-cv-01285-RSL

Document 27-3

Filed 09/25/2006

Page 1 of 1

Seth Shiloh Schermerhorn
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August 10, 2006
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information, could you tell what affiliate sent the email? A. Not usually, because when they link inside the email, they know that they're sending fraudulent traffic that's not allowed, so they refer it through a country like -- I don't know -- China or something, and usually by the time that the surfer complains about it and forwards us the email, the domain that they were referring to has already been blocked and taken down and there's just no way for us to even see what their SoulCash affiliate ID was. Q. Have there been any instances where you could tell what affiliate sent the email? A. Never. Q. Have any affiliates been terminated by IMG as a result of a complaint? A. Not as a result of a complaint. Q. When you received these spam complaints, how did you receive them? A. Via email to -- there's various emails that surfers find on our websites. Q. Does IMG have a designated email address for spam recipients to forward their complaints? A. No. MR. APGOOD: I object to the extent that it
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promoting IMG's websites through spam? A. Yes. Q. What were the circumstances? A. I don't specifically remember. But somehow we were able to actually track their affiliate ID, like maybe their referring URL wasn't taken down or I think -- I don't remember exactly, but we were able to associate their complaints. Because usually they come through SpamCop or SpamHouse, somebody's doing fraudulent marketing via email, and my host will contact me and let me know and give me whatever information he has. Q. Since January 1st, 2004, how many affiliates has IMG terminated for promoting IMG's websites through spam? MR. APGOOD: Objection, foundation. A. I'm not positive. I think in total it's like five or ten that we were actually able to track down and terminate. Q. Do you recall the specifics of any of those? A. I don't. Q. Was an affiliate Zillium terminated for sending spam? A. Yes.
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implies that such a duty exists. Q. You testified about the ISP being blocked when you received the -- sorry. Can you restate what you said about the ISP being blocked when you received a complaint. MR. APGOOD: Objection to the extent that it mischaracterizes testimony substantially. A. It was at the -- it wasn't the ISP, but at the actual data center level, and I was just saying I'm not sure what he does, but I know that he's also concerned about any fraudulent emails, so he has his fraud controls that he does. One of them, I think I said that you could like see the IP that the traffic was being referred from and block it before it even makes it to our servers in the data center. Q. Do you know of any specific action that was taken at the data center level as a result of a spam complaint you forwarded on? A. No. Q. Have you received spam complaints via other means than email? A. I think once or twice people may have even called our office via phone numbers that are published. Q. Has IMG ever terminated an affiliate for
United States' Reply to Defendant's MSJ Exhibit 22 CV 05-1285L Page 1 of 1

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Q. What were the circumstances surrounding that termination? A. We saw his name pop up in this whole lawsuit, and we were actually trying to figure out and remember what the circumstances were. I kind of like focus more on preventing it than the actual, you know, reason it happened. Zillium. I honestly -- I don't remember. Q. Do you know when Zillium was terminated? A. Long enough for me not to remember. Probably -- I don't remember exactly. Q. Do you know who terminated Zillium? A. I did. Q. At any point was Zillium reinstated as an affiliate of IMG? A. Never. Q. If the affiliate Zillium provided new information to IMG, is it possible that Zillium became an affiliate of IMG later? MR. APGOOD: Objection, calls for speculation. A. It's possible. Q. Was an affiliate Scorpion terminated? A. Yes. Q. Why?

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