So, fun to read that Jeremy Jaynes, the guy who hijacked an AOL server and sent more than 50,000 e-mails in three days, had his conviction upheld by the Virginia Supreme Court.

I'm not sure how I feel about the decision being so close (4-3, whew!!), but Jaynes' argument that spam is protected free speech wasn't given much credence. Thankfully!

Jaynes is believed to have generated about $750,000 a month when he sent total of 10 million messages between July and August 2003. His fraud activities allowed him to receive millions of dollars in profit, which he used to purchase several homes in the Raleigh, N.C. area.

Jaynes was ultimately charged in Virginia because the AOL servers he used for sending spam were located in that state.

"This is a historic victory in the fight against online crime," said Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell in a written statement. "Spam not only clogs email inboxes and destroys productivity; it also defrauds citizens and threatens the online revolution that is so critical to Virginia's economic prosperity."

The Supreme Court rejected Jaynes' claim that the state law violates both the First Amendment and the federal Interstate Commerce Clause of the U.S. Consitution.

I don't think we'll see any drop in spam because of it... So it's kind of a hollow victory.

But still, it makes me feel better to know this guy is going to be in jail for a few years.