Supreme Court won't revive Va. anti-spam law

RICHMOND

Virginia's attorney general said Monday that his office will rewrite the state's anti-spam law now that the U.S. Supreme Court has refused to review a lower court's decision striking down the measure.

The Virginia Supreme Court ruled in September that the law, among the nation's toughest in banning unsolicited bulk e-mails, was unconstitutional because it barred political, religious and other messages along with commercial solicitations.

The nation's highest court said Monday that it will not consider reinstating the law.

Attorney General Bill Mims said he was disappointed with the decision, but added that his office will draft legislation for the 2010 General Assembly session that addresses constitutional concerns.

"We are dedicated to protecting all Virginians from unscrupulous spammers who fraudulently send millions of unsolicited garbage e-mail messages," Mims said in a written statement.

Meanwhile, the court decisions leave Virginia without an enforceable anti-spam law on the state books, although sending unsolicited bulk commercial e-mail is still illegal under the federal CAN-SPAM Act.

The Virginia statute was challenged by Jeremy Jaynes, who once was considered one of the world's most prolific spammers. Jaynes bombarded Internet users with millions of pieces of spam, all of it commercial.

In 2004, Jaynes became the first person in the U.S. to be convicted of a felony for sending unsolicited bulk e-mail. He was sentenced to nine years. That conviction was overturned, but he is now serving time in federal prison on an unrelated conviction for securities fraud.

Jaynes' attorney, Thomas M. Wolf, said he was not surprised that the court refused to consider the case.

"The U.S. Supreme Court obviously did the right thing, and maybe now the Virginia General Assembly will pass an anti-spam statute that complies with the Constitution," Wolf said in a telephone interview.

He added, "It's rare to have a 7-0 opinion of the state Supreme Court reversed."

Authorities claimed Jaynes sent up to 10 million e-mails a day from his home in Raleigh, N.C. He was charged in Loudoun County, Va., because much of his spam passed through AOL servers there. He was sentenced to nine years but is currently serving time in federal prison for a securities fraud conviction unrelated to the spam case. 

Associated Press Writer Jesse Holland in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.