Weasel out of this one

Britain's most prolific spammer, currently behind bars and facing a number of charges, has also just been fined £81,000.

Peter Francis-Macrae and Ultra Technologies Ltd (UTL, a company he is sole director of, were found guilty of copying and using records from .uk domain name registry, Nominet. Macrae and UTL used Nominet's WHOIS database to send out fraudulent domain name renewal invoices under the name of 'Domain Registry Services'.

Nominet also obtained other permanent injunctions against Macrae and his companies,including preventing causing any damage to Nominet's computer systems and harassing Nominet staff. He also has to provide Nominet with a full set of accounts, a list of names and addresses of customers obtained from the Nominet database and to cover the costs incurred by Nominet in rectifying these actions.

Macrae had 14 days from the date of the order on 8 February to comply with payment of the £81,000 which will cover the Nominet's costs for taking legal action. Macrae has also been ordered to pay Nominet damages, which will be determined at a later date.

Macrae, aka Weaselboy, and the only UK resident listed on The SpamHaus Project's Register Of Known Spam Operations (ROKSO), is still in police custody after being arrested in November 2004.

He faces numerous charges including threats to kill, blackmail, transferring criminal property, criminal damage and running a business for fraudulent purposes.

Developments this case will continue at Peterborough Crown Court in May.

Commenting on the latest judgement, Lesley Cowley, Chief Executive of Nominet UK,said: "We are delighted with the outcome of this case. It sends a clear and strong message to those that may be considering similar scams that this sort of behaviour will not be tolerated now or in the future."