Australian spammer Wayne Mansfield and his company Clarity1 were found to have illegally sent more than 56 million spam messages to e-mail addresses around the world during the twelve months since the Act was introduced, in April 2004.

Justice Nicholson, of the Federal Court in Perth, rejected defense pleas that recipients had consented to receive the spam e-mails. The federal court will determine what penalty Mansfield should receive at a later date.

Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at security company Sophos, said: "The Australian Communications and Media Authority should be applauded for presenting a thorough case against Wayne Mansfield, and for cutting off the tidal wave of spam originating from his company."

Sophos recommends companies to protect their e-mail gateways against viruses, spyware and spam.