Firm to learn fate in electronic spam case

A company is to be sentenced today for electronic spamming in the first case of its kind in Ireland.

The 4’s a Fortune company pleaded guilty last month to the offence, which involved making random calls to mobile phones, hanging up, and providing a premium rate competition number to callers who rang back.

The Data Protection Commissioner mounted a year-long investigation into the company after receiving complaints from customers. The calls to the premium number cost up to €30 for 14 minutes while customers tried to win the advertised €50,000 jackpot.

The company is being prosecuted under Statutory Instrument 535, which was transposed from an EU data protection directive in 2003. It deals with unsolicited electronic communications such as phone calls, emails and faxes.

The director of 4’s a Fortune, Tom Higgins, from Manor Kilbride, County Wicklow also runs the Irish Psychics Live premium phone line service.

Earlier this year, he proclaimed that he would become the first Irishman to go into space by travelling on Richard Branson’s proposed commercial service.

The sentencing will take place at the Richmond District Court in Dublin at 2pm today.