A Dutch software developer has been fined over $300,000 for sending more than 21 million spam messages. He will also be charged a little over $7,000 for each day he continues to spam. Reinier Schenkhuizen was first warned in 2004 that he was in violation of Dutch anti-spam laws but ignored it, resulting in 379 more spam complaints being lodged against him and a raid on his home.

Schenkhuizen continues to deny that he is a spammer and plans to appeal the ruling. He claims that the emails customers send with his email client do have an ad for his company in them but that it can not and should not be considered spam. However, Schenkhuizen’s business is described as an “internet promo” company which really does seem like a fancy way of saying spamming.

It is encouraging to see European countries getting tough on spam. Many spammers user servers and ISPs located overseas because it is easier to avoid detection and prosecution there. Hopefully if more and more countries develop tough anti-spam and anti-cybercrime laws the war against spammers and hackers will finally make some real headway.