A US man has been charged with stealing the membership database held at the American College of Physicians (ACP) in Philadelphia.

William Bailey Jr, of North Carolina, faces a maximum 55 years in jail and a $2.75m fine if found guilty of illegally accessing the database and downloading the contact details of 80,000 members.

Bailey, 46, runs a website called dr-411.com which sells professional organisation member databases, including home addresses and email details for doctors, dentists, lawyers and estate agents.

IT security firm Sophos reported that Bailey's website, which is currently not active, contained adverts for email databases, one of which read: 'Physician Email Database 20,350 emails for $399'.

It is alleged that Bailey ignored the following warning message on the ACP's website and accessed the member database:

''Member Connection' or any of its data or listings may not be downloaded, republished, resold or duplicated, in whole or in part, for commercial or any other purposes, or for purposes of compiling mailing lists or any other lists of physicians. The use of 'Member Connection' to establish independent data files or compendiums of statistical information is prohibited. Should the foregoing terms and conditions be acceptable to you, please indicate your agreement and acceptance by clicking below on the button labeled ''I accept'.'

US Attorney General Pat Meehan said that the ACP contacted the FBI National Computer Crime Squad immediately.

"Criminal spammers are supported by the unethical email list providers who have sprung up like mushrooms around them," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos.

"Spammers need long lists of qualified email addresses to send their unwanted marketing messages to, and are always on the lookout for unscrupulous agencies who may assist them.

"Those people who are prepared to work with spammers carry the stench of spam around with them, and if found guilty should be punished appropriately. The public demands firm action from the authorities to investigate cases like this. "