A British businessman has won what is believed to be the first court victory of its kind in the fight against spam.
Nigel Roberts, who lives in Alderney in the Channel Islands, won his case against Media Logistics UK which he had accused of sending him repeated unsolicited email, or spam.
The decision, which comes three years after the European Union passed the directive on privacy and telecommunication, is believed to be the first successful prosecution of its kind in a European court.
Roberts said he took action after receiving repeated unwanted e-mail adverts for a contract car firm and a fax broadcasting business. The companies responsible for the emails were using the services of Media Logistics UK.
The company did not defend the claim and a judge ruled in favour of Roberts.
Media Logistics agreed to pay damages of £270 with a £30 payment for the fee for a small claims case. Roberts told the BBC that he had limited his claim to a maximum of £300 so that it would qualify for a hearing in the small claims court which made it quicker and cheaper to bring the case to court.
"This may be a tiny victory but perhaps now spammers will begin to realise that people don't have to put up with their e-mail inboxes being filled with unwanted junk," he said
Media Logistics Ltd provides email, telephone and fax marketing services. It charges 12p an email for 1,000 emails, or 4p an email for 125,000.
In describing its services the company says: "When our clients give us 4oz flour, 2oz butter, some yeast, water and of course a pinch of salt, we add a few secret ingredients to produce the glossy, soft, mouth-watering loaf that exceeds all expectation."
The UK government brought the EU directive into law in 2003. However, the Privacy and Electronic Communication regulations have been repeatedly attacked for lacking the powers to bring spammers to heel.
Talkback
The courts were 100% wrong here because what this man got was not SPAM, it was advertising. If sending a legitimate advertisement to someone is a crime, then what about all the ads we get in snail mail? What about all the ads I see on the streets, are they all illegal too? Legitamate email should not be considered SPAM and I wish this blurring of the word would stop. SPAM is email designed to cheat individuals out of their money, or to steal individuals identiies for monetary gain. There are already laws on the books for these types of crimes most often termed as fraud , and the courts don't need any additional laws to enforce them. This blurring of SPAM to include all email advertising is wrong, and I wish authors like Colin Barker would do there homework and acknowledge the difference.
How wrong could you be?
Spam is unsoliciteed commercial email, whether it's an offer of a cheap mortgage, penis extensions, or porn. It is not necessarily an attempt at defrauding the recipient; that is covered under, well, laws covering fraud, just as attempts to deceive someone into divulging personal infomation such as bank account details are also covered under criminal law.
Spam is different and needs to be treated differently. While it may not need criminal intent, it has the same effect as a telephone line being jammed by cold-calling tele-salesmen, to the extent that a company or private individual cannot make a or receive a legitimate email.
If you cannot see the need for laws enabling civil action against such drains on commerce and other legitimate activity then I suggest that you, sir, are either an anonymous fool, or an anonymous spammer.
Dave Harris is right, and 'Anonymous' is wrong.
You'll find links to the law at www.spamlegalaction.co.uk.
N.