Anti-spam Agency Declares Victory
05 December 2012
New Zealand's anti-spam agency is hailing a major success after the High Court awarded significant penalties against two local men involved in what is being described as the “largest pharmaceutical spamming operation in the history of the internet,” according to a report by Bell Gully lawyers on the firm’s website. (See related story, Spam King Ordered to Pay US$15 Million, on Page 7.)
The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) issued proceedings against Shane Atkinson of Christchurch and courier Ronald Smits for their part in a major international spamming operation. The pair admitted breaching the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act 2007 and Shane Atkinson was ordered to pay NZ$100,000 (US$73,000) and Roland Smits to pay NZ$50,000 in penalties, the firm said.
This is the second time the DIA has successfully sought pecuniary penalties under the anti-spam legislation. The first penalty was imposed against Lance Atkinson, Shane Atkinson's brother, in December last year for his part in the same operation.
DIA says the penalties mark the end of Operation King Herbal, an investigation conducted by its Anti-Spam Compliance Unit, which began in December 2007 when it raided four Christchurch properties and seized 22 computers owned by a Christchurch business, run by the Atkinson brothers, the law firm reported. The business sent more than two million unsolicited emails over a four-month period to New Zealand addresses, marketing pharmaceutical products. This was merely the New Zealand component of what the DIA says is “the largest pharmaceutical spamming operation in the history of the internet.” The DIA worked with overseas agencies, particularly the United States’ Federal Trade Commission, to conclude the investigation. Lance Atkinson is also facing court action in the United States brought by the Federal Trade Commission.
Bell Gully’s ICT team has provided comprehensive advice on the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act 2007 and related issues.
