California won its first judgment against spammers on Friday when a court fined a marketing firm $2m (£1.2m) for sending unsolicited bulk emails.

The court in San Jose also banned PW Marketing LLC and its owners, Paul Willis and Claudia Griffin, from owning, managing, or holding an economic interest in any company that advertises over the internet without first notifying the attorney general. The injunction will remain in place for 10 years.

The company sent millions of illegal, unsolicited emails advertising spamming tools, including $39 how-to books and lists of email addresses of California residents. The firm does not have a web site and has been accused of operating under fictitious names.

Prosecutors said PW Marketing violated a 1998 anti-spam law by sending unsolicited email without a toll-free number for recipients to call to stop additional mailings. Its missives did not include a valid return address or the "ADV" label to mark advertisements, which the state requires.

State attorneys also claimed the owners illegally tapped into computer users' network connections so the company could send email that couldn't be traced back to its source.

Despite California's success in prosecuting the spammers, it may not be able to collect the money. Neither Willis nor Griffin appeared in court at any time during the proceedings, which began in September 2002.

But Tom Dresslar, spokesman for California's attorney-general, Bill Lockyer, said the state would do "everything it can within reason" to collect the money. Mr Lockyer said the 10-year ban could serve as a precedent for other companies or individuals accused of sending spam.

California recently toughened its anti-spam laws, which prosecutors hope will lead to more success in the future. Under the new laws, individuals can sue spammers and collect damages of up to $1,000 per email.

Another provision forbids sending unsolicited email advertisements unless recipients give prior permission to receive such emails.