Spammers hit by $15.75m in fines

Two companies and three individuals have been hit with penalties totalling $15.75
million for contravening the Spam Act, the first court action taken against
unsolicited SMS messages.
The fines were handed down in the Federal Court in Brisbane on Friday.
Mobilegate Ltd and Winning Bid Pty Ltd were found to have contravened the Spam Act
and the Trade Practices Act 1974 in August 2009.
Three individuals - former Winning Bid director Simon Anthony Owen, current
Mobilegate director Tarek Andreas Salcedo and Winning Bid employee Glenn Christopher
Maughan - were also found responsible for the breaches.
The case was the Australian Communications and Media Authority's (ACMA) first court
action taken against unsolicited SMS messages.
ACMA acting chairman Chris Cheah said it was a significant outcome for all mobile
phone users.
"The maximum penalties provided for under the Spam Act are very high," he said.
"The substantial penalties imposed by the court in this case show that spam will not
be tolerated in Australia."
ACMA launched proceedings against eight respondents in the Federal Court in December
2008, alleging contraventions of both acts in relation to premium SMS chat services.
It alleged the respondents were engaged in a scheme to obtain mobile phone numbers
from members of dating websites, using fake member profiles to send commercial
electronic messages by SMS.
It was alleged that after the numbers were obtained, unsolicited messages were sent
to the mobile phone numbers offering to chat via SMS using services described as the
Safe Divert or Maybemeet services.
ACMA claimed the chat was not offered by genuine members of dating websites but
employees of Mobilegate and Winning Bid and consumers were charged up to $5 per
message.
When users questioned whether the messages were from a real person, it was claimed
they were told that it was a real person who was using the Safe Divert service to
keep their mobile phone number private.
"The conduct of these respondents was particularly malicious and deceitful as it
deliberately and systematically preyed upon vulnerable people, offering false hope
and expectations," Mr Cheah said.
ACMA estimates the scheme generated more than $2 million in proceeds.
A further hearing is scheduled for November 30 in relation to allegations against
the remaining three respondents - Glenn Christopher Maughan, Scott Mark Moles and
Scott Gregory Phillips.
The Spam Act 2003 regulates emails, SMS messages, MMS messages and instant messaging
messages.
The Act states that commercial electronic messages must have the recipient's
consent, clearly identify accurate information about the organisation and contain
unsubscribe options.
The penalty provisions came into force in 2004 when Australia was ranked 10th in
spam-relaying countries for email, according to the Sophos list.
For the 2008 calendar year, Australia fell to 32nd.
In the only other court proceeding brought by ACMA under the Spam Act, the Federal
Court in 2006 penalised Clarity1 Pty Ltd and Wayne Mansfield a total of $5.5 million
for sending unsolicited emails and using harvested address lists.