It looks like he's being sued for "Tortuous Interference with a Contract" and two counts of Defemation. The first charge apparently hinges on the fact that the defendent reported the spamming to the ISP who then cut off the spammer's Internet access. Sure, this interfered with the spammer's contract with the ISP, but he was just reporting an abuse of their services. If this is accepted by the court, then anyone sending spam onto abuse@isp.com will be opening themselves to a lawsuit.

The second charge (Defemation) seems to hinge on the wording that the defendent used to describe the spammer. He used words such as "criminal" and "notorious spam gang." Of course, the spammers insist that their business is completely legal and that the defendent knew this when he made the statements.

What's at stake here for the defendent is loss of time and money fighting the case and loss of more money if he loses to pay for the spammer's attorney fees and lost income. Needless to say, this could financially ruin him (or at least put him in severe financial trouble). What's at stake here for the community is the ability to report spammers without worrying about being sued. If the judge rules in favor of the spammer, then anyone reporting spam will be opening themselves to a lawsuit. (And don't think that the spammers aren't watching this as closely as we are to see if they can begin a round of lawsuits.)