Don’t you just hate receiving spam emails? They crowd your inbox, bombard you with offers of products you don’t want, and even cause annoyance. Sorting through spam emails can take up much of your time that you can use for other more productive activities. If you don’t like receiving spam emails, then you’re among the many people who share the same sentiment. Unfortunately, the Virginia Supreme Court has declared that the state’s anti-spam law is unconstitutional, which means that spammers will have less reasons to stop spamming.
In 2004, Jeremy Jaynes became the first person in the United States to be convicted for the offense of sending many spam emails. Authorities stated that Jaynes was able to send up to 10 million spam emails in a day from his home, which is in Raleigh, North Carolina. Back then, Jaynes was sentenced to stay in prison for nine years. Although Jaynes lived in North Carolina, he was charged in Virginia because the spam emails he sent went through an AOL server in that area.
In 2008, though, the Virginia Supreme Court reversed the conviction of Jaynes and declared that the state’s anti-spam law as constitutional. This was brought about by Jaynes’ claim that the anti-spam law goes against the free speech protections provided by the First Amendment.
Now that the Virginia Supreme Court has struck down its anti-spam law, chances are spammers will continue to send more spam emails. It’s advisable for you to guard your email against spam by using spam filters and by ignoring and deleting spam that gets to your inbox.