The Department of Internal Affairs has taken legal action against an Australian man who it says sent thousands of promotional messages to New Zealand mail addresses without consent.
The department's anti-spam unit has lodged a statement of claim in the Auckland High Court against Wayne Robert Mansfield, of Perth, for breaching the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act.
The department claims the email sent by Mr Mansfield invited recipients to buy tickets to business and marketing seminars he was holding in New Zealand.
They say emails were sent over four years from 2007 to 2010.
