A UK internet businessman this week won a legal victory against a company sending unsolicited commercial emails in what's thought to be the first case of its kind to be decided by a UK court. Nigel Roberts from the Channel Islands successfully sued Media Logistics for sending spam about fax broadcasting and contract car hire to his personal email account. Media Logistics, from Stirlingshire in Scotland, agreed to pay Roberts £270 in compensation plus £30 costs.

"This may be a tiny victory but perhaps now spammers will begin to realise that people don't have to put up with their email in-boxes being filled with unwanted junk," Roberts told the BBC.

The EU passed an anti-spam directive three years ago which established a framework for national laws designed to combat the nuisance of junk mail. Companies can be sued for sending unwanted emails by individuals who are entitled to sue for damages.

According to email filtering firm MessageLabs, the average percentage of spam in email traffic stands at 68.6 per cent or one in every 1.46 emails. ®

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