Spam king fined $210,000 by Federal Court, ACMA supports decision

A New Zealand citizen living on the Sunshine Coast has been ordered by the Federal Court to pay a $210,000 fine for taking part in the world’s largest spam operation.

The fine comes after the “spam king” has received fines from all over the world for his actions, including a massive $US16 million fine from the Federal Trade Commission in the United States.

Lance Thomas Atkinson has been fined and banned from sending unsolicited commercial emails for the next seven years, after he took part in an operation advertising fake prescription drugs such as “male enhancement” and weight-loss medication.

Atkinson, along with accomplice Jody Smith, sent out billions of emails selling prescription drugs with the title “HerbalKing”. However, authorities in the US and Australia said the two “deceptively marketed” the products.

Spamhaus, which tracks the world’s biggest spam operations, said HerbalKing was the “number one worst spam gang on the internet” during 2007-08. At one point during its operation, HerbalKing may have accounted for over one third of all spam emails.

While Atkinson and his accomplice said they had sourced drugs from a pharmacy in the US, these pills were actually manufactured in India and were potentially unsafe. The advertisements were sent through to billions of emails.

Apparently Atkinson also failed to secure the emails with security software, and while he advertised the use of “Secure Socket Layer” technology used to encrypt private data, in reality the system was not being used at all.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority pursued fines for Atkinson’s behaviour, after receiving more than 100,000 complaints related to his activities.

Fines have also been directed towards the activity of four separate companies used to cover the spam mail, including an Australian-registered company known as “Inet Ventures”, which ACMA targeted in its investigations.

‘There is simply no doubt that Australian citizens find large-scale distribution of unsolicited commercial electronic messages promoting the sale of products, in the circumstances of this case, very irritating and annoying,” Justice Greenwood said in his judgment.

“The ACMA’s case in this instance relied on reports made by the general public about spam,” ACMA chairman Chris Chapman said in a statement.

“Reports and complaints about spam from Australians are critical in the fight against spam. Without this information outcomes such as this could not be achieved.”

Atkinson, who did not appear in court, will be forced to pay the fine. However, his $US16 million fine will only be payable if he enters United States’ territory.