Mntsnow
04-30-2003, 6:20 AM
THERE CAN'T BE too many people who would go out of their way to defend spammers and it looks like none of them are in the Virginia government. The state, home to AOL, has enacted anti-spam laws that will have spammers running for the hills.
According to the Associated Press, the law is aimed at heavy spammers, many of the provisions only kick in once the sender goes past 10,000 emails. But those provisions are heavy indeed. They include the possibility of seizure of assets and up to five years in prison.
Perhaps Virginia got lucky, its governor comes from a background of high tech investment so has probably been prey to spammers for many years. He obviously has no interest in being lenient towards spammers, he wanted to make spamming "not only a potential criminal violation" but to seize spammer's "cars, boats, airplanes, homes."
One of the nicer provisions is the outlawing of faking headers. The law makes no distinction between commercial spammers and non-commercial bulk emailers either. Charities and churches that bombard unsuspecting Internet users with their literature are just as likely to be prosecuted.
The governor, Mark Warner, has also given out of state spammers some thought too. The penalties apply even if the senders and recipients live outside of Virginia but the spam passes through. The report does not say how those spammers would be caught
By Mike Magee: Wednesday 30 April 2003
According to the Associated Press, the law is aimed at heavy spammers, many of the provisions only kick in once the sender goes past 10,000 emails. But those provisions are heavy indeed. They include the possibility of seizure of assets and up to five years in prison.
Perhaps Virginia got lucky, its governor comes from a background of high tech investment so has probably been prey to spammers for many years. He obviously has no interest in being lenient towards spammers, he wanted to make spamming "not only a potential criminal violation" but to seize spammer's "cars, boats, airplanes, homes."
One of the nicer provisions is the outlawing of faking headers. The law makes no distinction between commercial spammers and non-commercial bulk emailers either. Charities and churches that bombard unsuspecting Internet users with their literature are just as likely to be prosecuted.
The governor, Mark Warner, has also given out of state spammers some thought too. The penalties apply even if the senders and recipients live outside of Virginia but the spam passes through. The report does not say how those spammers would be caught
By Mike Magee: Wednesday 30 April 2003