Appeals Panel Upholds Spammer’s Conviction

The Virginia Court of Appeals upheld the nation’s first felony conviction of illegal spamming.

Jeremy Jaynes of Raleigh, N.C., used the Internet to peddle pornography and sham products and services, prosecutors said.

Thousands of people fell for his scam, grossing Jaynes’ operations as much as $750,000 a month, investigators said.

In its unanimous ruling, the appeals court wrote that Virginia had a legitimate public interest in policing unsolicited e-mail and that the state anti-spamming law’s effect on interstate commerce “is incidental and clearly not excessive.”