$6.5m fine for sending spam email

PERTH - A Perth-based company has been fined A$5.5 million ($6.5 million) for sending millions of unsolicited emails, with a judge labelling the spam annoying, costly to combat and a threat to the internet.

It is the first time an Australian company has been fined under the federal Government's spam laws, introduced in April 2004.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) last year launched the Federal Court action against business seminar advertiser Clarity1 and director Wayne Robert Mansfield.

It is believed Clarity1 clogged inboxes with as many as 75 million emails between April 2004 and April 2006.

This year, the court found Clarity1, which also trades as Business Seminars Australia and Maverick Partnership, had contravened the Spam Act 2003.

Federal Court judge Robert Nicholson yesterday fined Clarity1 A$4.5 million and Mansfield A$1 million for those contraventions.

Justice Nicholson said it was impossible to calculate the amount of loss or damage caused by the emails.

The company has also been banned from sending any unsolicited emails.

ACMA chairman Chris Chapman said the judgment provided a strong warning to Australian spammers.

- AAP