Spammer bail set at $1M

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren () vortex com>
Date: November 9, 2004 10:46:35 AM EST
To: dave () farber net
Cc: lauren () vortex com
Subject: Spammer bail set at $1M

Dave,

As much as we all hate spam, there is something disquieting about
this story.  A nine year sentence for sending spam -- paraded around
in shackles?  The Virginia anti-spam law in question is indeed
questionable, and such state-based prosecution theories could one
day come back to haunt a wide variety of non-spammers as well.  It's
easy to point at an egregious case and to score prosecutorial points
by throwing the book at him, but with so much blood, death, and
serious crimes around the world at the moment, at the hands of
individuals and institutions, one can't help but wonder if
proportionality is becoming a completely forgotten concept.

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=237996

--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein
lauren () pfir org or lauren () vortex com or lauren () privacyforum org
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
http://www.pfir.org/lauren
Co-Founder, PFIR - People For Internet Responsibility - 
http://www.pfir.org
Co-Founder, Fact Squad - http://www.factsquad.org
Co-Founder, URIICA - Union for Representative International Internet
                     Cooperation and Analysis - http://www.uriica.org
Moderator, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com
Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy

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