Australian Spam Act Lands Tough on Clarity1

The 'Australian Communications Authority' has filed a legal suit in the Federal Court in Perth charging 'Clarity1 Pty Ltd.' to send nearly 280 million spam mails. Out of the total mails, around 74 million successfully reached targets between April 2004 and April 2006. The company is based in East Perth and promotes business seminar. The company along with its director, Wayne Robert Mansfield has to pay a fine of 5.5 million Australian dollars for committing the crime. This is the first case of an Australian company being fined within a new act related to delivery of unsolicited e-mails. Justice Robert Nicholson of Federal Court has asked Clarity1 to pay $4.5 million and Mr. Mansfield $1 million for sending out 280 million spam mails. The e-mails campaigned business seminars and events and products of similar kind. The court has also prohibited Clarity1 from dispatching junk e-mails in the future.

As per the Federal Court, Clarity1 violated the spam act earlier this year. It found Clarity1 doing business under the name of 'Business Seminars Australia and Maverick Partnership'.

Clarity1 defended itself on several grounds. It claimed to work on behalf of charities. It claimed to use e-mail addresses that it collected before the introduction of the Spam Act 2003. Further, it had business contacts with the e-mail recipients who had admitted receiving those mails.
On the last defense, Justice Nicholson remarked that since Clarity1 did not receive a response from those whom it sent a CEM (Commercial Electronic Message), it indicates that the 'inference of admission' does not have a logical base. Moreover, the inference is weak considering that the entire relationship between Clarity1 and the recipient is devoid of 'bilateral communication'. There is no sign of such communication in this case, from which an inference can come out.

Australia has framed some very tough laws against spammers, the practice of inundating inboxes with uncalled e-mails advertising items. As per Australia's Spam Act of 2003, Australian residents are banned from sending UCE even if they originate from outside the country. Such an act perhaps makes it convenient to resolve the oft-committed crime of spamming like the one Clarity1 was involved in.

Related article: Australian Blogger Uses Spam To Boost Blog

» SPAMfighter News - 10/31/2006