The California Supreme Court is to review an appeal court decision comparing mass-mailing emails to trespassing.
The review centres on former Intel engineer Kourosh Kenneth Hamidi who was accused of inundating his former company with anti-Intel emails after he was sacked after a dispute about a work injury.
In 1999, Mr Hamidi drove a horse and cart to the chip maker's offices to drop off 40,000 anti-Intel messages.
He also sent emails complaining about working practices to 30,000 of the company's workers.
Intel sued and sought an injunction barring Mr Hamidi from sending the messages. They claimed he was trespassing on private property by sending the emails.
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