(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — According to a story appearing Tuesday in Australian newspaper the Sydney Morning Herald, a man from Queensland’s Sunshine Coast has been fined $210,000 Australian for sending billions of spam emails.
Atkinson was fined $16 million US by the Federal Trade Commission earlier in December, and $100,000 previously by a New Zealand court.
The report says 26-year-old Lance Thomas Atkinson sent the emails offering male enhancement or weight loss drugs, and claiming the products were being distributed legally from within the United States.
Atkinson was also banned from sending unsolicited commercial emails for seven years by the federal court in Brisbane.
The Herald reports that the operation was capable of sending 10 billion emails per day, calling it the world’s largest spam operation.
Justice Andrew Greenwood, in handing down the sentence, reportedly said there was “simply no doubt” that Australians found the volume of unsolicited email to be “irritating and annoying,” according to reports.
In explaining the sentence, Greenwood also described the need for constant updating of spam filters to fight the ever-increasing amount of spam, though it is not clear whether he attributed this need directly to Atkinson’s activities.
Australian authorities tracked more than 100,000 mails received by Australian residents back to Atkinson.
The penalty assigned was reportedly on the lower end of the scale of available punishments, but the Justice cited Atkinson’s cooperation as a significant factor in reducing the fine. Other sources cite the maximum fine possible as $2.5 million, with the final penalty measuring approximately 7.8 percent of that.
About Liam Eagle
Liam Eagle has worked as a contributor to the Web Host Industry Review since its inception in 2000, and as editor since 2003. He has been editor of the WHIR's print magazine since its launch. His daily involvement in the gathering and reporting of Web hosting news and his regular interaction with Web hosting leaders gives him an uncommonly broad appreciation of the issues and tends facing the business. Through his WHIR blog, Liam spots Web hosting trends and offers opinions on the industry-wide impacts of major developments and the motivation behind big announcements. Follow him on Twitter @liameagle
No related posts.
