A legal claim against an internet marketing company which has been accused by the recipient of spamming could herald the end to junk-filled inboxes, it emerged yesterday.
Nigel Roberts, 37, who runs an internet business in the Channel Islands, wrote a letter of complaint to Media Logistics UK - a company specialising in "electronic direct marketing" - after it sent him an unsolicited email advertising the services of a contract car company.
"I wrote to the company asking for an apology and claiming damages under regulation 30 of the privacy regulations," Mr Roberts said yesterday. "I also asked under the Data Protection Act for details of the data that the company had obtained and stored about me - and I particularly wanted to know who had supplied them with my email address."
Frustrated by the company's failure to respond with the information and damages he requested, Mr Roberts decided to pursue the matter in a Colchester small claims court under a new anti-spamming law, the Directive on Privacy and Telecommunications, which enables individuals to claim damages against the distributors of unwanted emails. His legal action is thought to be the first of its kind under the directive.
The judge ruled in Mr Roberts' favour yesterday, and he agreed £270 damages and a £30 claim fee in an out-of-court settlement with the marketing company. Although Mr Roberts settled for relatively small amounts, legal experts say much higher sums could be awarded in higher courts.
Mr Roberts said he was more concerned with the precedent he hoped his action would set against spammers who clog inboxes with advertisements, than any financial gain.
"This case does provide a guideline when it comes to successfully claiming damages from spammers," he said. "It also shows that wherever they are they can be held responsible for sending spam to anyone living in a British Isles jurisdiction.
"This may be a tiny victory, but perhaps now spammers will begin to realise that people don't have to put up with their email inboxes being filled with unwanted junk."