Looks like high time to rewrite this law.

Va. Court Strikes Down Anti-Spam Law - News Story - WRC | Washington:


RICHMOND, Va. -- The Virginia Supreme Court has declared Virginia's anti-spam law unconstitutional.

The unanimous ruling Friday reversed the conviction of a man once considered one of the world's most prolific spammers. The court agreed with Jeremy Jaynes' claim that the anti-spam law violates free speech protections under the First Amendment because it isn't limited to commercial speech.

In 2004, Jaynes became the first person in the country to be convicted of a felony for sending unsolicited bulk e-mail, also known as spam. Authorities claimed Jaynes sent up to 10 million e-mails a day from his home in Raleigh, N.C. He was sentenced to nine years in prison.

Jaynes was charged in Virginia because the e-mails went through an AOL server in Loudoun County, where America Online is based.

Dad chases nude boy from daughter's room with pipe:


DELTONA, Fla. (AP) - An angry Deltona father whacked his teenage daughter's boyfriend with a metal pipe after finding the boy naked in his daughter's room. Authorities say the father, 45, didn't even know his daughter had a boyfriend or that the youngster had been sneaking into the home for more than a year.

When he heard noises coming from his daughter's bedroom Thursday morning and saw a stranger standing naked on the girl's bed, he swung a metal pipe. He then chased the teen out the front door and called police.

The boy was taken to the hospital where doctors closed a head wound with staples.

The father was charged with aggravated battery on a child and bonded out on $10,000.

Court: Constitution Protects Stored Cell Phone Location Information:


A federal court ruled September 10th that stored cell phone location information is protected by the Fourth Amendment. The court said the government needed a warrant, based on probable cause, in order to gain access to stored cell phone location information. Other courts have required probable cause for law enforcement access to real-time cell phone location information; however, this decision is particularly important because it extends the probable cause requirement to stored location information. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, joined by CDT, ACLU and the ACLU of Pennsylvania, had argued for the warrant requirement that the court adopted in an amicus curiae brief filed in July.

Proposed Copyright Law a 'Gift' to Hollywood, Info Groups Say | Threat Level from Wired.com:


A dozen special-interest groups urged lawmakers Wednesday to squelch proposed legislation that for the first time would allow the U.S. Justice Department to prosecute civil cases of copyright infringement.

The Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights Act, scheduled to be heard in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday, also creates a Cabinet-level copyright-patent czar charged with creating a worldwide plan to combat piracy. The czar would "report directly to the president and Congress regarding domestic and international intellectual property enforcement programs."

The bill, a nearly identical version the House passed last year, is strongly backed by the music and movie industries. The House and Senate versions encourage federal-state anti-piracy task forces, the training of other countries about IP enforcement and, among other things, institute an FBI piracy unit.

In a letter to the Judiciary Committee, the groups said granting the Justice Department the power to file civil lawsuits on behalf of Hollywood and others is "an enormous gift" to copyright holders.

"Movie and television producers, software publishers, music publishers, and print publishers all have their own enforcement programs," the letter said. "There is absolutely no reason for the federal government to assume this private enforcement role."

The dozen groups include American Association of Law Libraries, American Library Association, Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union, Digital Future Coalition, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Essential Action, IP Justice, Knowledge Ecology International, Medical Library Association, Public Knowledge and Special Libraries Association.

The House version does not contain language granting the Justice Department the ability to sue copyright infringers. The department does prosecute criminal acts of infringement, although rarely.

If the Senate version becomes law, it is not immediately clear how the Justice Department's expanded powers would work in practice. For example, would the department assume the role of the Recording Industry Association of America, which has sued more than 30,000 people in the United States for copyright infringement since 2003?

Virginia County's Statements On Student Voting Rights Draws Concern:

A Virginia County registrar is drawing concern for disseminating information supposedly aimed at helping college students prepare to vote. The Montgomery County registrar issued two documents suggesting that college students who register to vote in Virginia could jeopardize their scholarships, health insurance and tax status, reported the RK Blog. The first document released in late August says, “If you have a scholarship attached to your former residence, you could lose this funding. And, if you change your registration to Montgomery County, Virginia Code requires you to change your driver’s license and car registration your present address within 30 days.” A second release issued days later said students should consider whether there “health, automobile or other insurance coverage could be affected” by registering to vote in Montgomery County.

Sujatha Jahagirdar, with the Student Public Interest Research Group’s New Voters Project, told Inside Higher Ed that, “For a county registrar to issue what really are in our experience unsubstantiated warnings for a particular demographic is alarming. It’s upsetting that this is coming up in Virginia. But it’s even more upsetting that the ability of young people to vote is questioned in many other states too.”

The American Constitution Society has launched a Web page that provides educational information on students’ voting rights. The Web site, Resources on Student Voting, offers access to voting guides and other resources.