Notorious spammer off the hook

 

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By Matthew Sparkes

Posted on 15 Sep 2008 at 08:52

A nine-year prison sentence handed to convicted spammer Jeremy Jaynes has been overturned, setting a potentially sweeping precedent in US law.

The Virginia Supreme court overturned the custodial sentence handed to Jaynes, who is claimed to have earned $24 million during his career by sending up to a million unsolicited emails a day.

Jaynes' appeal succeeded on the basis that the anti-spam law in Virginia is "unconstitutionally overbroad", as it applies to non-commercial as well as commercial messages.

Court documents explain that the law "is unconstitutionally overbroad on its face because it prohibits the anonymous transmission of all unsolicited bulk emails, including those containing political, religious or other speech protected by the First Amendment to the US Constitution."

Although Jaynes was sentenced more than three years ago, he has yet to serve a prison term as the judge at the time ruled there were constitutional issues with the case that could only be settled by a higher court.

"I do not believe a person should go to prison for a law that is invalid," said Judge Horne at the time, releasing Jaynes under a $1 million bail. "There are substantial legal issues that need to be brought before the appellate court."

It is exactly those issues which have now been used to overturn the original decision.

Although the amount of email spam originating from the US is falling as a percentage of worldwide spam, it is still the largest source of unsolicited messages.