A teenager who sent an obscene text message to 15 000 cellphone users has become the first computer whizkid in Russia to be convicted of sending spam.
The unnamed university student from the Urals city of Chelyabinsk hacked into one of Russia`s biggest mobile phone operators and used a special program to send the message, Interfax news agency said.
He was handed a one-year suspended sentence and ordered to pay a 3 000-rouble (around $100) fine.
A spokesman for the Section K branch of the Russian police, which deals with hi-tech crimes, said this was the first time a spammer had been successfully prosecuted.
Russia has gained notoriety for its large number of talented and often disaffected young computer experts, whose bedrooms are regularly suspected of spawning major viruses.
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