Four men were sentenced to 13 to 18 months in prison for sending millions of text messages in the first case of its kind, the Beijing News reported.

The men surnamed Xiang, who also sold rechargeable cards for cell-phones, bought 28 machines to send group messages for their clients despite knowing they need a license from China Telecom. From November 2008 they sent 300,000 messages to mobile phone users every week.

The spam messages included ads for housing, furniture, downloads of ring tones and mobile games. They all admitted sending the mass texts, but Xiang said "I never sent any messages indicating pornography."

The four suspects made more than 300,000 yuan from their illegal operation. Xiang said he received 0.03 yuan for sending each message, making 340,000 yuan for the past two years.