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Virginia Supreme Court Upholds Spammer Conviction

March 3, 2008

On Friday, the Virginia Supreme Court upheld what is believed to be the first felony conviction for illegal spamming in the U.S.

Jeremy Jaynes had been appealing an earlier spamming conviction, on the grounds that the junk e-mail he had facilitated the distribution of in 2003 was free, protected speech covered by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.

A divided Virginia Supreme Court affirmed the nation’s first felony conviction for illegal spamming on Friday, ruling that Virginia’s anti-spamming law does not violate free-speech rights. Jeremy Jaynes of Raleigh, N.C., considered among the world’s top 10 spammers in 2003, was convicted of massive distribution of junk e-mail and sentenced to nine years in prison. “Jaynes allegedly used aliases and false Internet addresses to bombard Web users with junk e-mails peddling sham products and services," said the court's majority, adding  misleading commercial speech is not entitled to First Amendment protection.

The full text of the opinion is here.

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