Media Logistics was pursued by Nigel Roberts, an internet consultant who recently completed a law degree, after he received unsolicited emails advertising the company's contract car hire and fax broadcasting business.
He took advantage of EU legislation introduced in 2002, which gave individuals the right to seek damages through their local courts from the originators of unsolicited email, fax and SMS messages.
Roberts went to the small claims court after the company apologised but refused to provide compensation or reveal where it sourced his email address.
It did subsequently offer £100 and admitted that it had sourced his email address from a company that had been wound up, but Roberts still went to court.
The court case was not contested by Media Logistics. A Colchester County Court judge found in Robert's favour in October and scheduled a hearing for January 4 to decide how much Media Logistics should pay in damages and costs with a small claims court ceiling amount of £300.
However, the company settled out of court before Christmas, agreeing to pay Roberts damages of £270 plus his £30 filing fee.
Roberts said that the figure would not be used as a precedent for future cases as it was an out of court settlement. He also admitted that such claims would not prove effective against the majority of spam, because it originates from outside the UK. However, he hopes his action will make spammers think twice.
"This is a small victory. But perhaps some spammers will now start to realise that people in Europe won't tolerate their email inboxes being filled with unwanted junk," he said.
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