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Perhaps the load of spam at your business just got a little easier to handle. The Virginia Supreme Court recently  upheld the earlier conviction of prolific spammer Jeremy Jaynes. Also upheld was his sentence of nine years in prison. Jaynes was convicted of his spamming activities in 2003. At that time, he is believed to have been sending ten million emails a day via an AOL server in Virginia.

The Virginia Attorney General, Bob McDonnell, had this to say about the ruling: "This is a historic victory in the fight against online crime. Spam not only clogs e-mail inboxes and destroys productivity; it also defrauds citizens and threatens the online revolution that is so critical to Virginia's economic prosperity." I must add that it also costs businesses untold money and time in spam-prevention software and activities.

The Virginia Supreme Court case turned on Freedom of Speech. Attorneys for Jaynes argued that by sending spam Jaynes was exercising his freedom of speech.The State disagreed. It was a split decision, rejecting this argument 4-3. One Justice in the minority wrote that, "unconstitutionally overbroad on its face because it prohibits the anonymous transmission of all unsolicited bulk e-mail including those containing political, religious or other speech protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution."