E360 Insight, Inc. v. The Spamhaus Project

In remand of case for new damages hearing after entry of default judgment, Dist. Ct. erred in awarding plaintiff $27,002 in action alleging tortious interference with plaintiff's contractual relations and economic advantage when defendant added plaintiff to its internet protocol addresses of verified spam distributors. Record supported Dist. Ct.'s issuance of sanctions against plaintiff in form of limitation on plaintiff's potential damages due to plaintiff's repeated failure to appear at deposition and its tender of unresponsive answers to interrogatories, as well as barring 16 witnesses who had not been timely disclosed in discovery. However, Dist. Ct.'s award of $27,002 in damages was improper since it was based on plaintiff's gross revenue, rather than its net profit. Moreover, Ct of Appeals found that appropriate remedy was limited to one dollar for each of plaintiff's three claims given plaintiff's discovery violations during remand and given plaintiff's inability to establish reasonable estimate of harm suffered from defendant's conduct.