BIG-TIME SPAMMER ARRESTED UNDER TOUGH VIRGINIA LAW

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

Delivered-To: dfarber+ () ux13 sp cs cmu edu
Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2003 17:16:00 -0800
From: Thomas Leavitt <thomas () thomasleavitt org>
Subject: BIG-TIME SPAMMER ARRESTED UNDER TOUGH VIRGINIA LAW
To: Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>
Cc: dave () farber net

Declan/Dave,

 Much as I despise spammers, I believe this is an extraordinarily dangerous
precedent... am I to be liable for prosecution in another state merely
because, at one point or another, a communication I sent that violated
neither the laws of my own state, nor the laws of the destination state,
touched a piece of equipment in a state where some element of it was
illegal? Are Internet users going to be forced to familiarize themselves
with the laws of every state in the union, and the physical location of each
and every piece of equipment in use, in order to avoid prosecution?

 I hate to say it, but I hope these guys get the best legal representation
possible and that this law gets overturned...

Regards,
Thomas Leavitt


BIG-TIME SPAMMER ARRESTED UNDER TOUGH VIRGINIA LAW
One spammer has been arrested--and another is expected to turn himself
in--under a strict new Virginia law. The law allows the state to
prosecute spammers outside Virginia if they send e-mail that even
passes through the state on its way elsewhere. Because Virginia is the
home of America Online, more than half of the world's e-mail passes
through the state. Jeremy Jaynes of North Carolina was arrested this
week and will be extradited to Virginia to face charges that he used
deceptive routing information in commercial e-mails, preventing
recipients from identifying the source of the messages. The Virginia
law makes such actions illegal, and the volume of e-mail sent by Jaynes
makes the crime a felony. The other suspect, Richard Rutowski, also of
North Carolina, is expected to surrender. Both are listed on
Spamhaus's top-ten list of spammers. The two men face up to five years
in prison on each of four felony counts.
Internet News, 11 December 2003
http://www.internetnews.com/IAR/article.php/3288131
--
Thomas Leavitt, Sr. Systems Admin For Hire
Resume at http://www.thomasleavitt.org/personal/resume/
Phone: 408-591-3342 / Email: thomas () thomasleavitt org / Fax: 815-371-2804

Wired since 1981. Internet-enabled since 1990. Web-enabled since 1993.
Older, wiser, and poorer, post-crash. :)

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