Editor's Note: Federal court records indicate this case was voluntarily dismissed by the plaintiff on Oct. 30, 2015.
A Chicago businessman has brought what he intends to be a federal class action against the owners of pornographic websites who he says have improperly sent text messages to his mobile phone and those of untold numbers of others, seeking to entice them to click a link directing them to view their subscription service sites.
On Aug. 30, David Izsak filed suit in federal court in Chicago against Smoochy Brands LLC and CM Productions LLC, both based in New York state. Smoochy is the owner of the “Well Hello” branded website, while CMP owns the site operated under the brandname “Badoink.”
Well Hello is a site “displaying nudity and offering free registration for men interested in ‘casual sexual encounters,’” according to the complaint, while Badoink provides “a subscription-based website featuring nondownloadable adult-themed photographs and videos.”
The complaint, filed on behalf of Izsak and the putative class by the law firm of Siprut P.C., of Chicago, alleges Izsak received a text message on June 4, 2015, which read: “What does a girl have to do to get a guy to buy her a cup of coffee?, msg back on that site … Lily-F.” The message also included a link.
When the link is clicked, the complaint alleges users would be sent to “a website warning the recipient that the link may contain ‘inappropriate content’ or ‘spam or malicious code.’”
Ultimately, following the links provided will take users to the “Well Hello” site, where visitors are invited to input information, search for “matches” on the “exclusive website” based on “sexual preferences,” and to register with the site and subscribe using “three-tiers of paid membership.”
Should users then attempt to back out of the “Well Hello” site, the service then kicks users back to websites owned and operated by Smoochy and CMP, including those bearing the Badoink trademark on which the Smoochy and CMP advertise other paid services, the complaint alleges.
Izsak’s complaint alleges the text message he received was part of a “text message campaign” created by Smoochy and CMP to “advertise their various websites” using messages sent “en masse to a list of thousands of wireless telephone numbers or randomly generated phone numbers.”
Izsak asserts in his complaint he never gave his “expressed, written consent” to receive the text messages, which he argued means the text messages were sent in violation of federal telecommunications law.
The complaint doesn’t specify how Smoochy and CMP allegedly obtained Izsak’s phone number, but the complaint states Izsak and his attorneys believe the messages are sent by “equipment that had the capacity to store or produce telephone numbers to be called using a random or sequential number generator, and to dial such numbers.”
The complaint also does not offer a firm estimate how many other people may have received similar text messages from Smoochy and CMP, saying only the plaintiffs believe the class may number in “the thousands” or more.
The complaint includes a count each of violation of the federal Telecommunications Consumer Protection Act and of conversion.
The lawsuit demands awards of actual and statutory damages. While not specified in the complaint, the TCPA carries statutory damages of $500-$1,500 per violation, payable to the consumer.
Izsak has requested a jury trial.