Californians Michael Persaud, 24, of San Diego and Frank Kriticos, 25, of Santee will answer felony criminal charges of spamming and so earn the distinction of being the first people so charged in that state, according to a story in the local Union Tribune newspaper. [The Register]

Theoretically, because violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 have been included in the terrorism crackdown, hackers and spammers could be sentenced to life in prison. [News Factor]

UUNet customers have been left stranded without access to their email for the last 36 hours after the outfit took a "very big hit" from spammers earlier this week. [The Register]

European Internet marketing companies and e-tailers will be breathing a sigh of relief this morning, following an easing of European Commission proposals to ban spam and heavily restrict the use of cookies on the Net.

Consumers across Europe who have been plagued by junk e-mails and phone messages are being told that new laws are on the way to control them.

A new study finds at least 34 percent of e-mail messages at work contain irrelevant information. [ABCNEWS.com]

The British marketing industry has begun the fight back against European Union proposals to ban all unsolicited emails. [Guardian Unlimited]

When rep. Heather Wilson (R-N.M.) introduced legislation in February to prevent or greatly reduce unsolicited commercial e-mail, commonly known as spam, privacy advocates cheered and then lent their support. But then some trade associations complained, and shortly thereafter the bill was amended in a congressional committee, and stripped of some of its enforcement strengths. [InfoWorld]

DoCoMo said it has requested permission to block any e-mail sent to large numbers of invalid e-mail addresses.

A bill designed to give consumers and ISPs greater control over a flood of unwanted e-mail, commonly known as spam, was introduced Wednesday by the same U.S. representatives who sponsored the legislation in the last Congress. [CNN]

Spam costs Net users a whopping E10 billion ($9.33 billion) a year, according to the European Commission. [The Register]