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Virginia Anti Spam Law Declared Unconstitutional
The Court of Appeals of Virginia declared the unsolicited bulk email provision of the Virginia Computer Crimes Act unconstitutional. The Court held that the statute is unconstitutionally overbroad on its face because it prohibits the anonymous transmission of all unsolicited bulk emails including those containing political, religious or other speech protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
The decision follows on an appeal by Jeremy James, who was the first to be convicted for spamming under the Virginia Computer Crimes Act. Mr. James had sent over 10,000 emails within a 24 hour period to subscribers of America Online on three separate occasions. While executing a search of James’ home, police also discovered a cache of compact discs containing over 176 million email addresses and 1.3 billion email user names.
For a copy of the decision, visit:
http://www.courts.state.va.us/opinions/opnscvwp/1062388.pdf