Debitel Hit With Record Spam Fine

German mobile telephone operator Debitel was fined on Monday the record sum of two million kroner (€269,000) by a Danish commercial court for sending unsolicited text and e-mail messages to phone users, judicial sources said. In April 2003, Debite sent 12,000 SMS mobile phone text messages and 36,000 e-mails containing offers to the customers of competitor Telmore, which was at the time being taken over by Danish operator TDC. Consumer mediator Hagen Jörgensen, who filed the complaint against Debitel, said he was "satisfied with this verdict which sends a clear signal" that spam is forbidden by law. Other spam cases are pending, and Jörgensen has recently created an e-mail address where consumers can send their complaints about spam. He has since received up to 1,500 e-mails per day, his office said.