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| The man is accused of sending 56 million spam
emails. |
The Australian Communications Authority is accusing a Perth man
of sending 56 million spam email messages, in what is believed to
be the first court action under Australia's Spam Act.
Wayne Mansfield, and his company Clarity1 (which also uses the
name Business Seminars), have had proceeding launched against them
in Perth's Federal Court and could face multi-million dollar fines
if found guilty.
In April 2005, Sophos reported how authorities
in Australia raided a suspected spam factory in Perth, during which
the contents of computer hard disks and other material were
seized.
It is now claimed that at least 56 million spam messages were
sent from a network of computer servers around the world.
"Spam is a worldwide problem which knows no national boundaries,
and computer crime authorities are working hard at tracking down
the worst offenders," said Graham Cluley, senior
technology consultant for Sophos. "People can be deluged with spam
sent from a computer on the other side of the world. As this is the
first case under Australia's relatively new anti-spam legislation
many people around the globe will be interested to see how the case
progresses."
According to Dr Bob Horton, the acting chairman of the
Australian Communications Authority, complaints about Mansfield's
alleged spamming activities have been received from as far afield
as the United Kingdom.
Australia's anti-spam legislation came into effect in April
2004, and allows for penalties of up to AU $1.1 million a day for
companies who repeatedly break the law.
Sophos recommends companies protect themselves with a consolidated solution which can defend businesses
from the threats of both spam and viruses.
More than 100 million users in 150 countries rely on Sophos as the best protection against complex threats and data loss. Sophos is committed to providing security and data protection solutions that are simple to manage, deploy and use and that deliver the industry's lowest total cost of ownership. Sophos offers award-winning encryption, endpoint security, web, email, and network access control solutions backed by SophosLabs - a global network of threat intelligence centers. With more than two decades of experience, Sophos is regarded as a leader in security and data protection by top analyst firms and has received many industry awards.
Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com.