Microsoft wins case against German pornographer for using Hotmail

Technology giant Microsoft Corp. won a court case against a German man accused of forging e-mail that appeared to come from Microsoft's hotmail.com e-mail address.

This is the first case in Germany, a country without spam laws, in which an unsolicited e-mailer has been fined.

The regional appeals court in Karlsruhe found the unnamed party guilty of sending unsolicited mail and using Microsoft's trademark-protected Hotmail brand without the company's permission.

The sender was sending unsolicited e-mails to promote the undisclosed pornographic site for several months. He was ordered to stop the mailing of e-mails using the Hotmail brand as well as told to pay a fine of more than $318,000.

In addition, the spammer must provide Microsoft with detailed information about his e-mail promotional activities.