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By silicon.com, 19 July 2004 17:35

Microsoft has announced another win against a prolific spammer. So does this prove that legislation and prosecution can win the war on spam?

In a word 'no', but it does prove that Microsoft is primed and ready to crack down on anybody who crosses the line it has drawn in the sand - even while all and sundry are still getting that self-same sand kicked in their faces.

The problem here isn't with Microsoft - it's with the laws under which the transgressor was punished. The victims here weren't perceived to be the recipients of the millions of spam emails which are sent every hour around the world - the victim here was Microsoft, in the eyes of the court.

Some may claim it is ironic that a company inextricably linked with the meteoric rise of spam, through abuses of its Hotmail service in particular, can so easily secure prosecutions where others fail to even be heard

The trick is to forget the whole spam issue (as many legislators would probably love to do) and nail the culprit for another offence, much like prosecuting murderers and mobsters for non-payment of taxes, a la Elliot Ness.

Much of Microsoft's rhetoric is about 'stopping spam' and 'cracking down on those who would send unsolicited email', but much of the wording actually relates to trademark infringement, false advertising and 'cyber-squatting'.

The prosecutions are certainly to be applauded, but as a precedent they are reasonably worthless. They won't change the levels of spam, but will perhaps change the types of spam.