Spammers Conviction Upheld

Filed in archive Spam News on March 2, 2008

The Virginia Supreme Court upheld the country's first felony conviction for spamming, ruling that spamming is not considered protected speech. Jeremy Jaynes of Raleigh, N.C was convicted under Virginia's anti-spamming law and sentenced to 9 years in prison. He was once considered one of the world's top 10 spammers. He was responsible for sending 10 million spam messages a day and grossed up to $750,000 a month. He was convicted in Virginia because he used AOL's servers to send his spam, and the ISP is located there.

"Unfortunately, the state that gave birth to the First Amendment has, with this ruling, diminished that freedom for all of us," Jaynes' lawyer, Thomas M. Wolf, said in a written statement. "As three justices pointed out in dissent, the majority's decision will have far reaching consequences. The statute criminalizes sending bulk anonymous e-mail, even for the purpose of petitioning the government or promoting religion."

The court rejected Jaynes' claim that Virginia's anti-spam laws violated the First Amendment and the interstate commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution.