Brian Lynch v. AML Network Ltd.

I. Background

Plaintiffs Brian Lynch, Barbara Qadri, Jonathan Ruelas, Ronan Shepherd, James Andrews, Angela Neilson, and Julia Durward sued Defendant AML Network Ltd.1 for violations of California Business and Professions Code §§ 17529.5(a)(1) and 17529.5(a)(2) arising from unsolicited emails. See generally Complaint, Docket No. 1-1. Plaintiffs seek statutory damages of $1,000 per email, attorneys’ fees, and costs. Id. at 13-14. Plaintiffs allege that they are individuals who resided in California at all relevant times. Id. ¶ 4. Defendant is a Hong Kong private limited company, headquartered in and doing business in Hong Kong. Id. ¶ 6; Defendant’s Response to August 30, 2021 Order to Show Cause, Docket No. 25, at 2. Defendant purportedly owns and operates several websites and engages numerous third-party advertising networks and affiliates to advertise for Defendant or its clients. Complaint ¶ 2. Defendant allegedly used these affiliates to send at least 1,017 unlawful Unsolicited Commercial Emails (“spams”) to Plaintiffs between November 2018 and December 2020. Id. ¶¶ 1, 26. Plaintiffs received the emails “at their California [email] addresses.” Id. ¶ 20. …