Court Rejects Spammer's First Amendment Defense
RICHMOND, Va. (CN) - The Virginia Supreme Court voted 4-3 that a state law making it a crime for spammers to clog inboxes with unsolicited e-mail does not violate spammers' free-speech rights. The court upheld the felony conviction of Jeremy Jaynes, the first spammer convicted under the Virginia Anti-Spam Act.
He was sentenced in 2004 to nine years in jail for sending more than 10,000 unsolicited e-mails within 24 hours to America Online subscribers.