Bulk email firm loses antitrust case against Microsoft

A BULK EMAIL FIRM has lost in its arguments that Microsoft and Yahoo are acting unfairly by running its messages through their spam filters.

Holomaxx had screamed 'Antitrust!' and argued that the firms were violating antitrust laws, but according to Geekwire the court ruled that the companies blocked the messages because they were "harassing" and "otherwise objectionable".

As in other antitrust cases, Holomaxx used the argument that Microsoft is affecting its ability to compete in the marketplace, while Microsoft argued back that it was well within its rights under the Communications Decency Act.

US District Judge Jeremy Fogel ruled against Holomaxx, saying that it had not managed to adequately prove its case and needed to rely on deeper arguments than just the fact that it had lost money as a result.

"The fact that Holomaxx may have lost money as a result of vigorous competition, without more, is insufficient to show an antitrust violation or unfair competition," he said.

Holomaxx sued Microsoft in November of last year, after having failed to please the company by adhering to its rules and best practices.

"Microsoft knowingly relies on faulty automated filters and equally faulty third party information to identify purported spam emails," it said in its complaint at that time.

"Even after Holomaxx informed Microsoft that it was not sending spam - and then took the initiative to review all of of Microsoft's technical standards... Microsoft informed Holomaxx that due to its 'negative reputation', Microsoft is not able to override its own automatic spam filters." µ