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Spammer Sentenced to 9 Years in Jail

Posted by Zonk on from the should-have-been-a-year-for-each-email dept.

Iphtashu Fitz writes "Jeremy Jaynes of Raleigh, NC now has the dubious honor of being the first spammer sentenced to jail for the felony of spamming. Virginia judge Thomas Horne sentenced Jaynes to 9 years in prison based on a jury recommendation after he was convicted of sending out 10 million e-mails a day. Jaynes, who sent out much of his spam using the name "Gaven Stubberfield", has held a position on the SpamHaus Registry of Known Spam Operations for a long time. Unfortunately the sentence has been postponed while the case is being appealed." Commentary on the sentence available at Forbes as well.

4 of 565 comments (clear)

  1. Shouldn't the punishment fit the crime? by Thaelon · · Score: 1, Redundant

    I mean fuck. 9 years in jail? for sending emails? Don't get me wrong I hate spam as much as the next guy, but JAIL?

    I think he should be sentenced to 9 years of phone tech support at minimum wage with no raises and no opportunity for advancement.

    OR

    He should be forced to be a human spam filter at AOL for 9 years at minimum wage with no raises and no opportunity for advancement.

    I'd rather go to jail than face that cruel and unusual punishment.

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    Question everything

  2. Is this reasonable? by DeathPenguin · · Score: 1, Redundant

    Does he really deserve jail time for spamming? Shouldn't we just stick him with a huge fine, freeze any offshore bank accounts, and leave him financially ruined? Yes, spammers are scum. Yes, I hate them too. But something bothers me about sending people to jail for that long for crimes that couldn't really cause physical harm to anyone else. Maybe a little time would be good, say 8-14 months. 9 years seems excessive to me. If the appeals court rejects the case and the sentence sticks, he'll spend more time than some rapists, murderers, and child molestors. This almost sounds like something the RIAA would have done to P2P users.

  3. Re:Not "Unfortunately " by iminplaya · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Damn you! You beat me to it! Now, all I can say is "I agree!!" and get modded redundant. I guess the submitter isn't a great believer in due process, much less appropriate punishment. Jail for everybody! That way Nike and Walmart can move their factories back to the US and say that their products are American made.

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    What?
  4. He'll wish the prisoners didn't use his stuff by Mustang+Matt · · Score: 1, Redundant

    He'll hope those convicts he'll be sharing a cell with haven't been buying viagra from him.

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    The man who trades freedom for security does not deserve nor will he ever receive either. - Benjamin Franklin