[4] The Defendant, Cyber Promotions, Inc., was an online direct email marketing company, headed by founder and CEO Sanford Wallace.

Cyber Promotions was "in the business of sending unsolicited e-mail advertisements [spam] on behalf of themselves and their clients to hundreds of thousands of Internet users, many of whom [were] CompuServe subscribers".

[5] In the months leading up to the case, CompuServe subscribers complained to the company about the large amount of spam they were receiving (from Cyber Promotions and other mass emailers).

[6] In response to Cyber Promotions' first argument, Judge Graham conceded that there was, in fact, an "implied privilege" to utilize CompuServe's system to send email messages from the Internet.

[2] In response to Cyber Promotions' second argument, Judge Graham noted that "allowing the First Amendment to trump private property rights is unwarranted where there are adequate alternative avenues of communication".

[2] The court ruled that CompuServe had a viable claim for trespass to chattels and was entitled to injunctive relief to protect its personal property.

Additionally, Cyber Promotions and Sanford Wallace were enjoined from sending unsolicited advertisements to email addresses controlled by CompuServe while the action was still pending.

[2] The final consent order was served by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on May 9, 1997, permanently enjoining Cyber Promotions from "causing, authorizing, participating in, or assisting others" to send unsolicited email to CompuServe e-mail addresses, or to employ any "false or misleading reference" to CompuServe "in the header of or in connection with any electronic message".