Danish spammer hit with record fine

nahdoic

A Danish court fined a local telecommunications equipment company a record 400,000 Danish crowns ($67,990) on Wednesday for sending up to 1,500 unsolicited e-mails, a rare conviction against a peddler of what is commonly called spam.

"We are very pleased with the judgment, which we expect will have a preventive effect on the practice of sending unsolicited e-mails to both private consumers and companies," said Jane Frederikke Land, the prosecutor conducting the case on behalf of Denmark's National Consumer Agency.

The consumer ombudsman brought the case against Aircom Erhverv ApS, saying the practice of sending unsolicited e-mails intended to market goods or services to the recipient was an infringement of Denmark's law on marketing practices.




Land said the ruling created a precedent in Danish law and emphasized that the law also protects Danish consumers and companies against spam from sources outside the Nordic country.

Denmark is one of six European Union states to have implemented a European Commission directive on privacy and electronic communications that calls for stiff sanctions against companies that send torrents of e-mail marketing messages, nicknamed for the bland, processed meat product made mostly from ham.

Waves of unsolicited e-mails that promise the recipient schemes for quick riches or a better sex life, or endless products from vibrators to vacuum cleaners, are a daily annoyance to most people who have an e-mail address. Industry estimates say spam accounts for at least half of all e-mails sent, triggering a global clampdown from politicians and the business community. As of today, infringements of the Danish law involving even one unsolicited e-mail could result in a minimum fine of 10,000 crowns ($1,700) and a fine of 100 crowns ($17) for every e-mail beyond 100.

This is the second case of its kind in Denmark. In the first in May 2003, a company was fined 15,000 crowns ($2,550) for 153 spam e-mails, often said to have been nicknamed after a skit by the British comedy troupe Monty Python's Flying Circus, in which the actors dressed as Vikings annoy fellow diners in a restaurant by chanting: "Spam, spam, spam" over and over.

Austria, Ireland, Italy, Britain and Spain have also implemented the European Commission directive aimed at avoiding the widespread use of spam e-mail.

I wonder when somebody in Ireland will be hit with a fine for spamming ... has that happened yet?

Civilian_Target

No one in Ireland will ever be hit for it, because no-one ever really does it. Bandwidth is cheaper in places like Russia, and less chance of being caught. Hell, you'd break bandwidth cap in a couple of e-mails around here...

Seth Brundle

I came accross this problem recently on a forum I moderate, whereby a member had their email harvested and subsequently spammed.
Who do we complain to in Ireland? What will happen the spammer? Is it worth the effort?

mneylon

Originally posted by Civilian_Target
No one in Ireland will ever be hit for it, because no-one ever really does it. Bandwidth is cheaper in places like Russia, and less chance of being caught. Hell, you'd break bandwidth cap in a couple of e-mails around here...

That's not really true. The volumes of Irish SPAM are perceived to be lower - but it's still a problem.

paulthelegend

Without getting political ... I don't think there’s any chance of Ireland bringing in any laws like that, most of the 'people' in power are well over the age of computer literacy. I don’t think computers where invented when they were in school never mind being thought haha, and with the loop holes in our emigration laws and everything else I think Spam is low on Irelands priority list.

mneylon

There are Irish anti-spam laws already, however, as spam is an international problem it is quite hard to see how tangible the effects of such legislation will be.

paulthelegend

Theres no anti-spam laws in america and i think thats where more then 50% of it happens (now this is something i heard on rte news or somewhere like that so don't know how true it is) so unless they can make a law where legal action is taken when anyone from any country sends spam INTO a protected country which would only be countrys with prefix's .ie etc .... just a thought probably impossible

mneylon

Originally posted by paulthelegend
Theres no anti-spam laws in america and i think thats where more then 50% of it happens (now this is something i heard on rte news or somewhere like that so don't know how true it is) so unless they can make a law where legal action is taken when anyone from any country sends spam INTO a protected country which would only be countrys with prefix's .ie etc .... just a thought probably impossible

There are anti-spam laws in the US and other countries, however they are not very effective. I would recommend you have a look at http://www.spamhaus.org

paulthelegend

haha i told you my source and said im not sure is it true
the only thing i found that works is if your using hotmail , set up two accounts

one called blahblah12345@hotmail.com and when your signing up to your fhm and your "win a holiday" and your irish bank accounts (worst of them all for sending spam to your home) and all the planetsourcecode etc that need you to register, and when they ask you for your name put it in as something with the sites name in it (ex. firstname = plant second name= sourcecode) then you know who is selling ur name and who isnt

then have another email account thats huge but easy to remember ex.

youwillneverforgetthisemail@hotmail.com ... (when swapin emails with the local girl you hooked up with when on holidays etc they will remember yours haha)

and with my long email i never get spam and with the other account i get about 15 a day but only check it when i need a password for something i just registered.