First Aussie Spammer Prosecuted

April 18th, 2006: The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has sealed its first victory under Australian’s 2003 Spam Act by successfully prosecuting the Western Australian company Clarity1.

The court found that in the 12 months after the law was introduced in April 2003, Clarity1 and its Perth-based owner Wayne Mansfield breeched the Act by illegally sending 56 million spam emails, most of which were unsolicited.

The company claims that the emails used were all obtained prior to the Act coming into effect, and that all recipients had consented. However, these defences were rejected by the court.

“The fact that address-harvesting may have occurred at a time when no such prohibition was in the law, does not prevent the application of the provision in its term from the date it came into force,” Justice Nicholson said.

“This has been an important test case for the Spam Act,’ says Chris Chapman, ACMA Chairman. “Justice Nicholson’s findings should give Australians confidence in the effectiveness of this important legislation.

“This case provides a strong indication to Australian spammers that their activities will be vigorously pursued by ACMA.”

The Federal Court will hand down penalties at a later date.

Are you constantly inundated by Spam.

Related Article:

Police Passwords Exposed