Oz man fined 210,000 dlrs for sending billions of spams to Indian websites

Melbourne, Dec. 22 (ANI): A Queensland man has been fined 210,000 dollars by the Federal Court of Australian for being found guilty in a spamming scam that sent billions of emails to websites in India.

The spams sent by Lance Thomas Atkinson offered lifestyle drugs to computer users and claimed the medication was being legally dispensed from the US.

News.com.au quoted Justice Andrew Greenwood as saying that there was ''simply no doubt'' that Australians found large-scale distribution of such unsolicited material ''irritating and annoying''.

Justice Greenwood added that 26-year-old's actions created a need for spam filters to constantly update to deflect the onslaught of unwanted material.

He pointed out that the penalty was towards the lower end of the scale available but said Atkinson's co-operation in the matter had been a significant factor.

Atkinson's assets are currently frozen by US authorities.

Earlier this month, authorities in the US fined Atkinson 16 million dollars over the operation.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority said it pursued Atkinson after it received complaints from more than 100,000 computer users over unsolicited emails linked back to him. (ANI)