A spam attack. (Stateline).

Internet users who hate unsolicited email advertising (spam) are celebrating recent court rulings in Washington. The court in September agreed with the state that Oregon businessman Jason Heckel violated Washington's anti-spam law. He sent out millions of e-mails with the subject line "Did I get the right email address?" along with an invalid return e-mail address. The U.S. Supreme Court had earlier refused to hear an appeal of this case and sent it back to the state court for a decision. Washington's law makes it illegal to send state residents e-mails with deceptive subject lines or fake return addresses or to use a third party's domain name without permission. The case is the first test of Washington's anti-spam law. Other cases throughout the country have targeted the content of e-mail messages, but this is the first time a state has successfully taken a person to court for the mere act of spamming.