Good to hear that a spammer has been successfully sued here in the UK, via the small claims court. Ben Laurie is going to write a 'How To', and then we can all join in the fun. The sums of money involved are small, with the spammer paying only £270 in damages to Nigel Roberts who brought the case, but this means that the cost of bringing the case is kept low too.
Three years ago the EU passed an anti-spam law, the directive on privacy and telecommunications, which gave individuals the right to fight the growing tide of unwanted e-mail by allowing them to claim damages.
Mr Roberts received unwanted e-mail adverts for a contract car firm and a fax broadcasting business and decided to take action against the company.
The company filed an acknowledgement of the claim at Colchester County Court but did not defend it and a judge ruled in favour of Mr Roberts.
In an out-of-court agreement Media Logistics agreed to pay Mr Roberts damages of £270 plus his £30 filing fee.
Mr Roberts said he had limited his claim to a maximum of £300 in order to qualify to file it as a small claim.
Now, with a bit of co-ordination, a large group of people bringing small claims cases to court against the same spammers might be enough to put some of them out of business. After all, they only do it because it makes them money. If we can cost them money, we're on to something.
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