http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=&e=7&u=/ap/20041026/ap_on_hi_te/spam_trial

Defendants Accused of
Sending Spam

By MATTHEW BARAKAT,
Associated Press Writer

LEESBURG, Va. - Three people who
allegedly sent America Online customers millions of junk e-mail messages
touting penny stocks and other Internet gimmicks went on trial Tuesday in the
nation's first such felony case.

The defendants are being
tried under a 2003 Virginia anti-spam law that prosecutors say is the harshest
of its kind in the nation.

The three face up to 15
years in prison if convicted on all three counts.

Assistant Attorney
General Russell McGuire told jurors that on one day alone in July 2003,
defendant Jeremy Jaynes sent or attempted to send 7.7 million e-mail messages
to AOL customers using false identities or bogus company names. The goal of the
messages was to sell software that would allow a person to work from home as a
"FedEx refund processor" or that would help them pick the right penny
stocks.

He said the suspects
used false identities to evade AOL's spam filters.

"When you masquerade
your identity, that's when you have a problem," McGuire said.

Defense lawyers
countered that sending spam is not illegal under Virginia law unless
prosecutors can prove that the defendants intentionally masked its origin and
can prove that the junk e-mail was unsolicited. They said prosecutors will be
unable to meet that burden.

"Marketing via the
Internet is not a crime," said Thomas Mulrine, attorney for defendant
Jessica DeGroot. "It may be annoying to you, but it's not a crime to
market on the Internet."

Jaynes and DeGroot, who
are siblings, and the third defendant, Richard Rutkowski, are all from the
Raleigh, N.C., area, but are on trial in Virginia because they allegedly sent
their spam to customers of AOL, which has its servers at its Virginia
headquarters.

While other states have
passed spam laws in recent years, Virginia authorities say theirs goes further
than others because it gives prosecutors the power to seize assets from those
sending bulk e-mail while imposing up to five years in prison.