This past week, Facebook along with the Washington State Attorney general, sued Adscend Media claiming that they were defacto spamming Facebook with “likes.” This is a curious extension of the CAN-SPAM laws, because it claims that likes, even when generated by other users, are somehow regulated by CAN-SPAM. Adscend Media, however has responded that they are not involved whatsoever with the claims being brought by Facebook, and has called them “absolutely and unequivocally false.”
“At no time did we engage in the activity alleged in the complaints. Adscend Media will provide a vigorous defense against these false claims,” the company said in a strongly worded statement released today.
Mark J. Rosenberg, the company’s attorney, said, “We find it deeply troubling that the Attorney General’s office made a public spectacle of these serious allegations without first questioning the company as part of its investigatory process and, even more inexplicably, without notifying the company that the complaint was being filed. Adscend Media first learned of the allegations from media inquiries.”
Both Facebook and the Washington State Attorney General have confirmed that this is indeed true: that neither company ever spoke to Adscend Media to ask them to stop, or to determine if the ads were indeed coming from Adscend Media.
Insiders are already pointing that this could be troubling to this lawsuit, because Adscend’s technology can be used by almost anyone to lock content, and is accesable to any third party company to use. Facebook in order to claim that there was some violation of Facebook’s terms and conditions, and a violation of CAN-SPAM, would have to both determine if Adscend is actually involved with the “like-jacking” and then ask Adsend to take action against the publisher using the technology.
“Adscend Media strictly complies with its legal obligations under federal and state law. We are undertaking an investigation to determine whether any of Adscend Media’s affiliates engaged in the activity alleged by the Attorney General’s office and Facebook. If they did, we are fully certain that the activity was conducted without the company’s knowledge.” the statement continued.
“We are disturbed that the Attorney General’s office would allow public resources to be used in an irresponsible manner, particularly when these allegations are absolutely untrue and could do tremendous harm to Adscend Media’s reputation and business. Adscend Media is concerned about the source of these false allegations, and is fully prepared to take legal action if appropriate.”
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