Law for Business 12th Edition by James Barnes,Terry Dworkin,Eric Richards

Exercise 3

Jason Heckel, an Oregon resident, regularly sent unsolicited commercial e-mail, or spam, over the Internet. The Washington State Attorney General's Office received complaints from Washington recipients of Heckel's unsolicited e-mail. They alleged that his messages contained misleading subject lines and false transmission paths. The Consumer Protection Division immediately notified Heckel that Washington state law made it illegal to use a third party's domain name without permission, misrepresent or disguise in any other way the message's point of origin or transmission path, or use a misleading subject line. Despite this warning, Heckel continued to send his unsolicited commercial e-mails using misleading subject lines, false or unusable return e-mail addresses, and false or misleading transmission paths. Finally, the state sued Heckel for civil damages, asking for a permanent injunction against his business practices. In response, Heckel argued that the Washington statute violated the Commerce Clause. Does the Washington statute unconstitutionally burden interstate commerce?