AOL Digs for Gold

[giza]

WASHINGTON (AP) -- AOL is preparing to dig for buried gold and platinum on property in Massachusetts owned by the parents of a man it sued for sending millions of unwanted spam e-mails to its customers.

AOL said Tuesday it intends to search for gold and platinum bars the company suspects are hidden near the home of Davis Wolfgang Hawke's parents on two acres in Medfield, Massachusetts. The family said it will fight in court to oppose AOL's plans.

AOL won a $12.8 million judgment last year in U.S. District Court in Virginia against Hawke but has been unable to contact Hawke to collect any of the money he was ordered to pay. AOL accused Hawke of violating federal and state anti-spam laws by sending unwanted e-mails to its subscribers and won its case in a default judgment against Hawke, who didn't show up in court.

Read the entire article.

Honestly, I cannot make stuff like this up. It sounds like something straight out of a novel from the 18th century, though.

Comments

[furahi.livejournal.com]

Your gold kills my Pluto

[rigelkitty.livejournal.com]

It's gotta have something to do with this:
http://media.aoltimewarner.com/media/newmedia/cb_press_view.cfm?release_num=55254517
http://goldrush.aol.com/

I've known about the upcoming "Gold Rush" thing for a while, but this article is news to me. I have no idea what the connection is, but it can't be a coincidence. I sure hope it's not a marketing hoax that CNN is complicit in - how would we know what's news and what's advertising?

[giza.livejournal.com]

The lawsuit seems to be real (http://legal.web.aol.com/decisions/dljunk/hawke.html).

Oh, and get this. The spammer is also a Neo-Nazi (http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=121).

[rigelkitty.livejournal.com]

Amazing. The guy's name is Greenbaum - that's a Jewish name. Maybe AOL got the idea for the "Gold Rush" game from this impending lawsuit?