Virginia Anti-Spam Law Reversed

Photo by Abigail Pheiffer
© 2005 Associated Press

(Pictured: Jeremy Jaynes (left), a high profile spammer with his attorney David Oblon (right) after his sentencing in 2005.)

By Donna Ho

According to The Associated Press, the Virginia State Supreme Court has declared the state's anti-spam law unconstitutional. The anti-spam law was created in 2003 to prevent people from receiving masses of unwanted e-mails. The court's ruling reverses the conviction of Jeremy Jaynes, who argued the law violated his free speech protections under the First Amendment.

In 2004, Jaynes was convicted for sending millions of emails through an AOL server in Loudoun County, Virginia. He sent the unsolicited e-mails which included "get rich quick" methods from his home in Raleigh, North Carolina. Jaynes was the first person in the U.S. to be convicted under the law when he was sentenced nine years in prison. Jaynes was charged for the spam case under Virginia law because he sent the e-mails through an AOL server there.

Athough the court upheld the anti-spam law 4-3 in February 2008, Jaynes' lawyers asked the court to reconsider, according to The Washington Post. On September 12, 2008, the Virginia Supreme Court made a unanimous decision which agreed with Jaynes' claim that the anti-spam law violates the right to free and anonymous speech under the First Amendment.

Attorney General Bob McDonnell said he was "deeply disappointed" and plans to take the issue to the U.S. Supreme Court, The Associated Press reports. Most states have anti-spam laws and sending commercial spam is still illegal under the federal CAN-SPAM Act. Jaynes' attorney, Thomas Wolf says however, the federal law does not apply to Jaynes' case because the act was implemented after he sent the e-mails.