Court Reverses Pro-Spam Rule

California federal court has dissolved a restraining order against SpamCop.net, just a day after ordering the antispam service to stop warning warn ISPs about complaints of spam coming from their networks.Judge Saundra Brown Armstrong of the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California dissolved a temporary restraining order against IronPort Systems, which owns SpamCop, according to a statement Wednesday from IronPort.The judge granted the order Monday in a case pitting IronPort against online marketing company OptInRealBig.com. Attorneys for OptInRealBig asked for an immediate injunction against SpamCop, saying SpamCop's reports have caused OptInRealBig to lose contracts with ISPs and customers.After analyzing opposition papers filed by IronPort after the injunction, the judge decided that "the interests of justice favor dissolution" of the order, the company says.IronPort purchased SpamCop in November 2003 from Julian Haight, the founder and lone operator of the service. At the time of the purchase, IronPort, which sells networking hardware for managing and securing e-mail traffic, promised to invest about $1 million to upgrade the service and keep it running.IronPort is thankful for the ruling and the "expedited consideration of its (opposition) papers," the statement says. A preliminary hearing will take place next week. IronPort is optimistic that it will prevail in the case, according to an IronPort spokesperson.