Court rules in pop-ups’ favor

Unsolicited pop-up ads that vex millions of Web surfers do not violate a state advertising law, a Utah appeals court has ruled.

The court last week rejected arguments that Celebrity Cruises’ Web advertisements ran afoul of a state law regulating unsolicited “electronic messages,” ruling that the measure was intended to target junk e-mail but not pop-up ads.

Jesse Riddle, a Salt Lake City attorney, sued Celebrity Cruises after an ad enticing readers to “enter to win a free cruise” popped up on his screen during a visit to The Los Angeles Times’ Web site in May 2002.

But the appeals court, in a 4-0 opinion written by Judge Gregory Orme, concluded that because the law was “limited to e-mail sent to e-mail addresses and pop-ups are not sent to e-mail addresses, pop-up ads simply do not come within the act’s definition.”

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