Nation’s Leading Wireless Carrier Wins Legal Injunction Against RI-based Wireless Spammer; Champions Customer’s Right to Privacy

Media Contact Info

J. Abra Degbor
JAbra.Degbor@VerizonWireless.com
781-481-1314

Brenda Raney
Brenda.Raney@VerizonWireless.com
908-306-4834

08/30/2004

BEDMINSTER, NJ and WOBURN, MA — Verizon Wireless today announced it was granted a permanent, legal injunction against Rhode Island resident Jacob Brown, a known ‘spammer’ who knowingly executed a systematic spam attack on wireless phones owned by Verizon Wireless customers. The Honorable Mary L. Cooper, United States District Judge in Trenton, New Jersey, permanently enjoined Jacob Brown from sending further spam to Verizon Wireless customers.

Brown and his cohorts distributed unsolicited short text messages (also referred to as ‘spam’) offering mortgage loans and directing individuals to adult Web sites. Additionally, these individuals ‘spoofed’ and disguised themselves by using IP addresses of innocent persons to distribute messages, creating identification protection for the guilty and an undercurrent of insecurity for innocent people. The company, which has long championed a customer’s right to privacy and ‘spam-free’ wireless environment, believed legal action was necessary to deter future wireless phone ‘attacks’ that force customers to pay for unsolicited commercial spam messages each time one reaches their phone.

The action taken against Jacob Brown is the latest of many legal filings by Verizon Wireless against wireless ‘spammers.’ Last year, for example, Verizon Wireless filed two suits against wireless spammers in federal court in Georgia -- which were disseminating repeated, unsolicited, text messages to Verizon Wireless customers -- and succeeded in stopping those spam attacks. These are believed to be some of the only legal actions taken in the nation against wireless spammers.

Within the last year, Verizon Wireless differentiated itself from its carrier competitors by making the independent decision not to participate in a wireless phone directory because, among other reasons, the company feels that it too would undermine customer privacy. At the Wireless Leadership Summit held by The Yankee Group in New York, Verizon Wireless’ President and CEO, Denny Strigl, championed Verizon Wireless’ ‘customers first’ stance on several issues, including the preservation of wireless customers’ privacy and control over their bills and unwanted or unexpected calls saying, “Today, wireless users view cell phones as one place they don’t face intrusions from telemarketers and other unwanted, unsolicited calls and messages. As an industry, we [wireless carriers] should be proud of our strong record to proactively preserve customers’ privacy in an intrusive world. Why would we want to tear down a wall of privacy that we spent two decades fortifying?”

The injunction against Jacob Brown should help to deter ‘spammers’ and further protect wireless device users from unwanted communication.

About Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless is the nation’s leading provider of wireless communications. The company has the largest nationwide wireless voice and data network and 40.4 million customers. Headquartered in Bedminster, NJ, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) and Vodafone (NYSE and LSE: VOD). Find more information on the Web at www.verizonwireless.com. To receive broadcast-quality video footage of Verizon Wireless operations, log onto www.thenewsmarket.com/verizonwireless.