Edited by Douglas Harbrecht

FOOD FIGHT IN CYBERSPACE: HORMEL VS. SPAMFORD.COM

Cyber Promotions Inc. -- the company that brings you junk E-mail -- is in a nasty trademark dispute with Hormel Foods Corp. over the use of the word "spam" in cyberspace. On July 2, Cyber Promotions formally rejected Hormel's demand to stop using its Web site, www.spamford.com, which is a takeoff on the company president's name, Sanford, a.k.a. Spamford, Wallace.

Cyber Promotions contends that in cyberspace, spam refers to the widespread distribution of unwanted E-mail -- a practice, many chagrined online users would agree, at which the company excels. There's no confusion with the meat product produced by Hormel, Cyber officials huff. "They've got to lighten up," says Cyber Promotion's lawyer Ralph A. Jacobs. "They have no sense of humor." But Hormel, which lost a federal trademark lawsuit against Jim Henson over a Muppett named Spa'am, fears that associations with the controversial cyber-practice will tarnish its product's image.

Cyber Promotions' own spamming activities have come under fire. In February, a federal court ordered it to restrict its mailing of unsolicited E-mail to America Online users to only five domain names so AOL members could block E-mail coming from those names if they so opted. The company was also told it had to remove people from its mailing list upon request. It has reached similar court settlements with Compuserve and Prodigy and is now negotiating an agreement with Earthlink.

By Cathy Yang in Washington