Facebook Gets Awarded $711 million in Spam Lawsuit

[engine]

Facebook Gets Awarded $711 million in Spam Lawsuit [news.cnet.com]

Facebook was awarded $711 million in a judgment Thursday against self-described "spam king" Sanford Wallace.

Judge Jeremy Fogel of the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California granted Facebook's application for a default judgment against Wallace for violating the Can-Spam Act, which bans "false and misleading" marketing e-mails. Fogel also found that Wallace "willfully violated" a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction issued in the case and referred the matter to the U.S. Attorney's Office for prosecution of criminal contempt.

"The record demonstrates that Wallace willfully violated the statutes in question with blatant disregard for the rights of Facebook and the thousands of Facebook users whose accounts were compromised by his conduct," Fogel wrote in his judgment order, which also permanently prohibits Wallace from accessing the Facebook Web site or creating a Facebook account, among other restrictions.

Facebook said the order should serve as a strong deterrent against spammers.

[blog.facebook.com...]

[cwnet]

One way to generate revenue...

[davec]

One way to generate revenue...

lol

[LostOne]

yea, but does he have any money?

[Don_Hoagie]

Indeed, this seems like their best revenue model to date.

But right LostOne, let's not add $711M to FB's balance sheet just yet...

[maximillianos]

Exactly. I doubt they will ever see a dime of this money.

[Jonathan]

The value for Facebook is not financial, but as a spam deterrent -- via juicy soundbite. Sanford Wallace recently filed for bankruptcy anyway.

[Trav]

Spamford made money during that time, spent it and had a good time. He's probably not going to pay them a dime. It's the same as the Canadian guy from last year. I don't see the judgment as being a deterrent to spamming, so much as an incentive to do it better so that one doesn't get caught. I wonder what the maximum jail time he would receive could be?

[IanCP]

As long as possible I hope. I hate spammers! Down with them all.

[MrHard]

I doubt they will ever see a dime of this money

Somebody says this on every single lawsuit thread that comes up.

[tangor]

They say it because it is true, however, the company does get the benefit of the judgment even it is is an noncollectable debt (and get to write it off), thus is "income." And there will be some jail time for the perpetuator...how much remains to be seen.

[Moncao]

1) Wiki updated very quickly; [en.wikipedia.org...]

2) Maybe Facebook will get zilch but Sanford faces jail for criminal contempt, amen.

[swa66]

Sanford faces jail for criminal contempt, amen.

Let's hope they keep him far away from any computer and Internet connection while serving time.

[Moncao]

"Let's hope they keep him far away from any computer and Internet connection while serving time."

swa66 - Can't do any worse than the Indonesians who, after capturing the Bali bombers, jailed them and "allowed" them to have mobiles and lap tops so they could, yes, plan the next terrorist attacks from their jail cells.