Whew! That Was A Close One. Free Speech Does Not Protect Sending Spam
March 1, 2008
By just a whisker, the Virginia Supreme Court ruled 4-3 to uphold the country's first felony conviction of Jeremy Jaynes of Raleigh, N.C. for sending huge amounts of spam.
Huge amounts. Jaynes is listed in the top ten spammers of all time.
In the trial, prosecutors introduced evidence of just 53,000 illegal e-mails our spammer sent in a three-day period. Janyes was allegedly responsible for sending 10 million e-mails a day in an enterprise that grossed up to $750,000 per month. You can see the grand jury indictment here. He got nine years.
Jaynes sent the email spam through a Loudoun County, Virgina AOL server, which gave the state jurisdiction over him. Jaynes argued that the Virginia law used to ensnare him was unconstitutional because it impinged on interstate commerce.
The Supreme Court thankfully upheld his conviction.
Justice Elizabeth Lacy dissented, however, arguing Virginia's law is "unconstitutionally overbroad on its face because it prohibits the anonymous transmission of all unsolicited bulk e-mail including those containing political, religious or other speech protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution."
You have to wonder whether she uses email. Probably not, would be my guess.
