Virginia Court Acquits Spammer, Rules Out Anti-Spam Law

Virginia Court Acquits Spammer, Rules Out Anti-Spam Law

The Virginia Supreme Court sided with Jeremy Jaynes, a prolific email spammer, and had him acquitted based on his argument that the law violates the free-speech protections of the First Amendment. Jaynes argued the law does not only prohibit commercial emails, but also restricts unsolicited email messages.  Jaynes was previously convicted in Leesburg, Virginia and was sentenced to nine years in jail.


At the Supreme Court trial, the prosecutors maintained that the the First Amendment is not applicable because the Virginia law bans trespassing on private email servers through phony e-mail routing and transmission information. The court, however, rejected the argument and reversed Jaynes' conviction.



Jeremy Jaynes was arrested for delivering physical junk mail during the 1990s. His e-mail outfit mainly advertised various "work at home" schemes. Among the hundreds of thousands of e-mails he broadcast per day, only an estimated 10-17,000 replied; but with orders of $39.95 per customer, Jaynes may have grossed up to $750,000 per month, and amassed a personal fortune estimated at $24 million, against line rental of $50,000 per month.