The Virginia Supreme Court has declared the state's anti-spam law unconstitutional.
The unanimous ruling Friday reversed the conviction of a man once considered one of the world's most prolific spammers. The court agreed with Jeremy Jaynes's claim that the anti-spam law violates free speech protections under the First Amendment.
In 2004, Jaynes became the first person in the country to be convicted of a felony for sending unsolicited bulk e-mail. Authorities claimed Jaynes sent up to 10 million e-mails a day from his home in Raleigh, North Carolina. He was sentenced to nine years in prison.
Jaynes was charged in Virginia because the e-mails went through an AOL server there.
