In a historic first, a California court has fined an Internet marketing company $2 million for sending millions of unsolicited junk e-mails. The case was brought against PW Marketing, a Los Angeles-based Internet advertising company owned by Paul Willis and . . .
In a historic first, a California court has fined an Internet marketing company $2 million for sending millions of unsolicited junk e-mails. The case was brought against PW Marketing, a Los Angeles-based Internet advertising company owned by Paul Willis and Claudia Griffin. The court found the company liable for sending a large quantity of spam that sold a $39 "how to" book for spammers and provided extensive lists of e-mail addresses.

California expects the ruling to set a precedent for further aggressive antispam legal action. But regardless of this high-profile case, California's legal efforts "ultimately will not change the volume of spam," says Yankee Group analyst J. P. Gownder.