How The Scot Sued The Spammer and Scored

There's a Scottish saying, "They that dance must pay the fiddler." Now it seems there should be another: "They that spam must pay the Scot". Fed up with the daily deluge of spam he received, Gordon Dick of Edinburgh, Scotland, decided to sue one of his inbox invaders--and won.

Gordon took Transcom Internet Services to court, arguing that the company had obtained his e-mail address illegally and without his consent. Transcom refuted the claim, saying that Gordon's e-mail address--along with over 40,000 others--was accidentally added to their databases. In the end, the small claims court agreed with Gordon, and awarded him £750 ($1,451) in damages and £619 ($1,198) in court costs.

Gordon's reason for taking the spammer to court was pretty self-explanatory. "When I contacted them they told me to sue them, so I did," he explained.