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Va. Court Strikes Down Anti-Spam Law - News Story - WRC | Washington

Looks like high time to rewrite this law.

Va. Court Strikes Down Anti-Spam Law - News Story - WRC | Washington:


RICHMOND, Va. -- The Virginia Supreme Court has declared Virginia's anti-spam law unconstitutional.

The unanimous ruling Friday reversed the conviction of a man once considered one of the world's most prolific spammers. The court agreed with Jeremy Jaynes' claim that the anti-spam law violates free speech protections under the First Amendment because it isn't limited to commercial speech.

In 2004, Jaynes became the first person in the country to be convicted of a felony for sending unsolicited bulk e-mail, also known as spam. Authorities claimed Jaynes sent up to 10 million e-mails a day from his home in Raleigh, N.C. He was sentenced to nine years in prison.

Jaynes was charged in Virginia because the e-mails went through an AOL server in Loudoun County, where America Online is based.

Posted by mikki on September 12, 2008 01:13 PM |

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