Can someone get rid of all the trackback spam we get? It seems like every time I look up, we have another trackback or comment from some guy named “Free Texas Holdem 2005″ telling us he loves the webpage and wants us to visit his online gambling site. Perhaps the only way to stop these guys is by jury trial.
A jury in Loudoun County, Virginia, not far from the nation’s capital, recommended that Jeremy Jaynes, a man who used fake Internet addresses to send mass e-mails, be sentenced to nine years in prison after being convicted of the first ever “spam felony”. Loudoun County judge Thomas Horne was happy to oblige, but he stayed the sentence pending appeal. ABC News reports:
Loudoun County Circuit Judge Thomas Horne said that because the law targeting bulk e-mail distribution is new and raises constitutional questions, it was appropriate to defer the prison time until appeals courts rule.
The court had jurisdiction over the case because Jaynes used an AOL server in Loudoun to send his spam.
Virginia, where AOL is based, prosecuted the case under a law that took effect in 2003 barring people from sending bulk e-mail that is unsolicited and masks its origin.
Prosecutors said Jaynes used the Internet to peddle sham products and services such as a “FedEx refund processor.”
Nathan Novak at 11:57 am
