Don't stop us if you've already heard this one.

Light Reading's sister site Unstrung discovered, while out clubbing [ed. note: seals?], that Finnish behemoth Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) has a record-holder in its midst.

At a party organized for the launch of Nokia's new gaming device, they were told that Anssi Vanjoki, executive vice president, Nokia Mobile Phones, holds the Finnish record for the highest-ever fine for speeding. He smashed the speed limit on his Harley Davidson in October 2001, doing 75 km per hour (47 miles per hour) in a 50 km/h (31 mph) area.

They heard the fine was quite impressive, so when the man himself loomed into view, they cornered him and asked for the details. "I was fined €116,000," he admitted. (That's $125,000 at today's exchange rate.) Oh, how they laughed. And laughed. And laughed.

That, they figured, must be a record. "Yes it is, but not one I am proud of," he added, before tiring of such triviality and speeding off (though not on his throbbing engine).

It seems that in Finland, speeding fines are a proportion of your income: Vanjoki was forced to pay 14 days' worth of earnings. The fine was based on 1999 income, apparently, which means Vanjoki must have netted a cool €3 million that year.

So he could afford it, then.

— Ray Le Maistre, European Editor, Unstrung