As an avid social media user I have been keeping my eye on this case since it started… After the conviction of Seattle’s Spam King Robert Soloway this past March on multiple charges relating to his mega-spamming operation, I knew that they were going to put their foot down, but wow, this wasn’t just a foot. They put down a size 14 steel toed work boot.
“Facebook has won an $873 million judgment against a Canadian resident for sending millions of spam messages to the Facebook social networking site. A San Jose, California Federal Judge issued the order on Friday, which is believed to be the largest to date under the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act, or the CAN-SPAM Act”
The judgment was delivered against Montreal resident Adam Guerbuez and Atlantis Blue Capital, which is a fake business name that is used by Guerbuez.
Apparently the spam appeared in the form of posts on Facebook user profiles, and drove users to third party sites advertising things deemed to be offensive and embarrassing to a large segment of the Facebook users who received, or viewed these messages. The messages included marijuana advocation, male enhancement pills, and sexually oriented material.
The judge ordered the defendant to pay $436 million in statutory damages for harm to its reputation and goodwill, and spent additional time and money to control the spam. The rest of the money awarded went to attorney fees and costs of the lawsuit.
Social Networking is part of our lives these days. It can be used as a part of our network to connect with colleagues and prospective employers. Guerbez’ spam could have really affected a few peoples real life by putting things that are inappropriate on their profile.
“We were obviously very happy with the judgment…” said Sam O’Rourke, a senior corporate counsel for the Palo Alto, California-based Facebook. “I wouldn’t be shocked if we didn’t recover the entire amount… but we are planning on collecting as much as we can.”
Good Riddance and Good Luck!!
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