The Commissioner runs through in some detail the story of the first successful prosecution under the EU Regulations contained in Statutory Instrument 535/2003.
Two key points:
It is important to note that although I had evidence that
the campaign involved the contacting of 165,000
subscribers, I can only prosecute in those cases
where there is no consent from the recipient to
receiving such calls. Therefore, I am restricted to
prosecution in relation to specific complaints from
individuals.
and
In March 2005 summonses were issued in respect of
five offences and 4’s A Fortune Limited entered
guilty pleas in July 2005. At the final hearing at
Court 54 on 1September 2005, 4’s A Fortune was
convicted of committing five offences of failing to
comply with Regulation 13(1)(b) and fined €300 out
of a maximum of €3,000 on each count, plus costs
of €1,000.
So, had all 165,000 people complained 4’s A Fortune would have been out of pocket to the tune of €4,950,000 in fines. Risky business, phone or text spam. Come on people, start complaining.