Volume IV

Issue : 10: May 18, 2006

• Federal Court Orders Payment of $4 Million from Spyware Operator
• Nevada Regulators Endorse Wireless Gambling Company
• U.S. Supreme Court Holds That Injunctive Relief for Patents Is Discretionary
• Yahoo! Faces Class Action Lawsuit
• UK Court Approves Extradition of Hacker to U.S.
• UK High Court Permits Prosecution of Bulk Spammers
• Rockers Sue Sony Music for Unpaid Royalties on Downloaded Music
• AT and T BellSouth and Verizon Accused of Violating Privacy Laws
• Technology Firms Urge Patent Litigation Reform in U.S.
• Complaint Filed Against Googles Click-Fraud Class Action Settlement
• Apple Wins Trademark Battle Against Beatles Record Company

Home > Volume IV > Issue 10: May 18, 2006 > UK High Court Permits Prosecution of Bulk Spammers

UK High Court Permits Prosecution of Bulk Spammers

London ’s High Court has ruled that persons sending barrages of unsolicited email in a coordinated denial of service (DoS) attack can be prosecuted under the 1990 Computer Misuse Act.

The ruling overturned a District Judge’s earlier decision to dismiss charges against a former employee accused of using a computer program (Avalanche) to send approximately five million emails to the employer that had fired him. The District Judge concluded that David Lennon, now 18, had no case to answer but the High Court said that the issue turns on the consent of the receiver. The extent of consent to receive email should be decided on a case-by-case basis. Such consent did not include receiving email sent intentionally in quantities sufficient to overwhelm the receiver.

For additional information, visit:

http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/05/12/britain.spam.reut/