Spammer in the slammer

Internetizens rejoice! For the first conviction of a spammer has happened and a jail-term served!

Jeremy Jaynes of Raleigh, N.C., one of the Internet’s top 10 spammers, according to watchdogs, was convicted in the first felony spam case — just up the road from Fool HQ in Loudoun County, Va. He and his sister, Jessica DeGroot, were both found guilty by a jury that then recommended a jail term of nine years for Jaynes and a fine of $7,500 for DeGroot.

What’s important here is the nature of the convictions: intentional spamming. Jaynes and DeGroot were convicted not for the alleged fraudulent nature of their millions of email solicitations — Jaynes has amassed a reported fortune of $24 million hawking products like penny-stock pickers — but for sending unsolicited junk and forging IP addresses to cover their tracks.

[emphasis mine]

It really is a significant judgement, because as the emphasized portions of the above excerpt indicate, the conviction is purely for spamming and not for some fraud or scam. This means that spamming is being (rightly) recognized as a felony and is being dealt with accordingly.

But of course this is just the beginning. One long jail-term for a spammer, one snall step in the fight against spam-kind!