On July 7, Sanford Wallace filed a frivolous, malicious lawsuit against Mark Welch in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Wallace notified the news media within minutes after filing the lawsuit.

Through this frivolous lawsuit, Wallace sought to regain the nationwide publicity he obtained in past years, when he lost many other lawsuits filed by many internet service providers, due to his abuse of millions of consumers in his colorful, aggressive role as the self-proclaimed “Spam King.”
(See, e.g., http://groups.google.com/groups?q=%22Sanford+Wallace%22&hl=en)

Wallace hoped that by suing a well-known consumer advocate and journalist, he would once again see his name and picture in the newspapers and on TV. Wallace sought to bait Welch into a colorful exchange.

Why did Wallace file the suit when he did? In the days just before Wallace’s frivolous lawsuit was filed, Welch was featured on CNBC and quoted in other media reports regarding his role as one of several consumer advocates who persuaded Yahoo to reverse an unfair policy imposed on GeoCities users.  Wallace’s primary goal was to “piggy-back” on Welch’s recent publicity.
(See http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&q=%2BWelch+%2BYahoo+%2BGeocities+1999 )

Welch’s attorney quickly filed a motion to dismiss Wallace’s frivolous lawsuit.

Wallace immediately abandoned his lawsuit. The suit was dismissed by the court on September 20, 1999.

Welch did not cooperate in Wallace’s publicity drive. After Wallace contacted the news media seeking publicity, several brief news reports were published, repeating Wallace’s false, malicious allegations.  As is typical, Wallace’s immediate abandonment of his suit was never reported.

(Welch spent more than $5,000 in legal fees and court costs, defending against this frivolous, malicious lawsuit.)

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