Tech & Biz

Virginia Supreme Court Strikes Down Anti-Spam Law

by Jordan Yerman | September 13, 2008 at 10:42 am

189 views | 10 Recommendations | 1 comment

The Virginia Supreme Court struck down a far-reaching anti-spam law, contradicting its own prior ruling on the matter. In its opinion, the court cited the value of anonymity, and its role in the spread of the ideas that founded the United States as we know it. However, not all disseminated items are equal, and even the First Amendment doesn't cover hate speech, advertising, slander... or spam.

But the state Supreme Court said the law doesn't make any distinction between types of e-mail or types of speech, and so it was unconstitutional. The ruling came on an appeal of Jaynes's conviction. Jaynes had sent the mass e-mails anonymously by using false Internet addresses, and the court said that speech is also protected by the First Amendment.

'The court noted that "were the 'Federalist Papers' just being published today via e-mail, that transmission by Publius would violate the [current Virginia] statute."

That comparison is disingenuous, though: in today's media model, the Federalist Papers would surely been blogged, not spammed, as they originally appeared in New York newspapers, and were not shoved under everyone's door whether they lived in New York or not. "Published via email"? That doesn't even really make sense.

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mchawk

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 15:37 on September 13th, 2008

jordan, I like this story. It's good stuff.

This is what happens when old people try to make decisions about new technology. They've betrayed their ignorance of both technology and history. I'd love to know how they'll benefit from this decision. Are they getting a pay-off from spammers?