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Melissa virus creator sentenced

WASHINGTON—A federal judge in New Jersey sentenced 33-year-old David Lee Smith to 20 months in jail and fined him $5,000 for creating the “Melissa” computer virus, which is estimated to have caused nearly $100 million in damages by disrupting e-mail systems around the world in 1999. It is believed to be the first time the maker of a computer virus has ever been prosecuted.

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