A Chicago businessman has scored a $7 million victory against a firm that used text messaging to advertise a sale on its Web site.

Jeffrey Weinstein, 41, says he got angry when he received a text message on his cell phone in December 2005 from the Timberland shoe company, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Monday.

I thought: There has to be a law against something like this, Weinstein said.

He decided to become the lead plaintiff in a federal class-action lawsuit charging Timberland with violating a federal ban on unsolicited calls on cell phones.

Instead of going to trial, Timberland and the e-commerce company that worked on its marketing campaign have agreed to create a $7 million settlement fund.

Weinstein, who stands to get $5,000, said the suit is not just about the money.

I imagined being in meetings and having text message after text message coming in, he said. I thought, 'Hell, no! This needs to stop right here before it becomes totally uncontrollable.'

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