How T-Mobile wound up spamming to a list of email addresses bought from eBay

Submitted for your approval: UK Register article Vulture eats his way along a trail of Spam details the marketing trail that led previously white-hat T-Mobile to spam potentially millions of users.

From the article:

So, just to recap, T-Mobile hired Quantum Media who hired Mailtrack Media who hired E-Mail Movers who bought a list from Century Communications who bought it from a bloke on eBay.

OK, so we have a list that describes the chain of responsibility. Now, will anybody actually be held responsible? Will T-Mobile be paying any fines under the British anti-spam laws? Will they be firing Quantum Media for spamming? Will anybody be fired for spamming? Or will it be business as usual with T-Mobile saying "We're shocked, shocked to find spamming going on in this establishment." I expect any day now to see a press release from T-Mobile assuring us that they take these things seriously.

T-Mobile may not have committed the spamming, but they comissioned it. Did they have a contract with Quantum requiring Quantum not to spam? Will some sort of penalties ensue over Quantum's violation of that contract? Or will it be business as usual; sorry about that, we take these things seriously; nudge, nudge, wink, wink?

Mainsleaze spam will continue to be a problem until the corporations who hire the spammers are held responsible.