Facebook awarded $711 million in an anti-spam case

A Uinted States District Judge in San Jose awarded Facebook, the social-networking giant, $711 million in damages in an anti-spam case. 

The lawsuit was filed by the Palo Alto company against online marketer Sanford Wallace, who is known as the "Spam King". 

Court documents say Wallace and his associates started a spam and phishing scheme after they registered as Facebook members in November 2008.

As members of this social network, the defendants sent numerous Facebook members a link to a website tricking them into revealing their login information. Some spam messages were sent to the network members to promote sales for other websites.

After they gained others' login information, they used others' Facebook accounts to send more spam messages, the suit said.

Wallace is a well-known spammer and he even gave himself a nickname Spamford.  Prior to his spammining business, he already sent junk faxes, a practice outlawed in the U.S., according to wikipedia.

Early in March 2009, Judge Jeremy Fogel issued a temporary restraining order and later a preliminary injunction against Wallace.

Fogel said in his order filed Thursday that Wallace violated the CAN-SPAM act 'with blatant disregard" for others' rights.

In addition to the award, the judge is also referring Wallace to the US Attorney's office for criminal contempt charges for his violating the restraining order and injunction.

Facebook initially sought $7.5 billion in damages against Wallace. But Fogel rejected the request and instead awarded Facebook $710,737,650.

Facebook reportedly won nearly a record $873 million judgment against a Canadian resident who was accused of sending millions of bogus messages from members' accounts to advertise mostly male enhancement drugs.

Wallace and his fellow internet marketer, Walter Rines, lost a case in 2008 to MySpace, a Facebook rival, which was awarded $235 million.

Facebook may not recover much of the award as Wallace already filed for bankruptcy early this year.

The company acknowledged that it does not expect to receive the vast majority of the award, but does believe that the ruling will "act as a continued deterrent against these criminals."

By David Liu and editing by Rachel Stockton

Something about Sanford Wallace

cited from wikipedia which owns copyright to the following (see license information at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_Creative_Commons_Attribution-ShareAlike_3.0_Unported_License:

Sanford "Spamford" Wallace is a spammer who came to notoriety in 1997, promoting himself as the original Spam King. Wallace's prolific spamming has resulted in encounters with the United States government, anti-spam activists, and large corporations such as Facebook and Myspace. Wallace initially started sending junk faxes before moving on to spyware and email spam.

Early career

In the late 1990s, his company, Cyber Promotions, aka Cyberpromo, was widely blacklisted as a source of unsolicited email. Wallace's high-profile pro-spam stance and unrepentant persistence earned him the derisive nickname 'Spamford'. (Wallace later registered the Internet address spamford.com.)

Prior to his email spam ventures, Wallace had gained notoriety in other questionable marketing circles, as a heavy utilizer of junk fax marketing, a practice outlawed in the United States since 1991.[1]

In 1995, Wallace formed Cyber Promotions, entering the spam market. Thanks to a self-marketing campaign, Cyberpromo rapidly became the most successful seller of email marketing -- as well as the number one source of unsolicited email. After Cyberpromo failed to become a legitimate business, Wallace returned to junk faxing in late 1997.[1]

Wallace's company brought a number of spam-blocking evasion tactics to the fore of the spam battle. False return addresses, relaying, and multihoming were among the questionable practices used by Cyberpromo to ensure the penetration of their advertising.

Retirement and reemergence

In April 1998, Wallace publicly announced that he was quitting the spam business. Cyberpromo was converted to what he claimed was an "opt-in" email marketing company and renamed GTMI. The revised company was plagued by major financial problems, as well as the spectre of its former self, with large numbers of people unconvinced of Wallace's change of heart. Wallace pulled out of the new venture quickly. GTMI's problematic legacy eventually led to its rapid demise.

After Wallace's internet connection was disconnected for spamming in 1999, he filed a lawsuit against anti-spam activist Mark Welch, but abandoned the suit a month later.

As of October 2003[update], Wallace was working as a DJ in New Hampshire, making weekly appearances at area nightclubs. Wallace performs under the name DJ MasterWeb.[2] Wallace did not leave the Internet marketing business entirely, it appears. In 2001 he was linked to a website, passthison.com, which utilized multiple-window launching to snag Web viewers, an advertising practice rarely seen outside of the online pornography industry. Wallace was also involved in another opt-in project, SmartBotPRO.NET, which is now apparently also defunct.

On October 8th, 2004, the FTC filed suit against Wallace and his company, SmartBOT, for infecting computers with spyware then offering a solution to remove the problem for $30.[3] In January of 2005, it was announced that Wallace had agreed to stop distributing the software until the charges with the FTC are settled.[3] Subsequently a default judgment was issued against Wallace forbidding him and associates from distributing spyware or any other software without consumer's consent.[3] .

In March of 2006, the FTC filed a suit[4] again against Wallace and SmartBOT for practices similar to the 2004 suit. This time Wallace and his co-defendants were ordered to pay $5,089,550.48 in fines.[5]

In 2007 MySpace had filed suit against Wallace for Phishing and spamming.[6] Wallace had used automated software not allowed by MySpace to create 11,000 fake profiles, in order to direct MySpace users to websites with questionable content.[7] In July 2007, US District Judge Audrey B. Collins issued an order prohibiting Wallace from creating or maintaining MySpace profiles, and from using MySpace to post public comments, or send private messages. In April 2008, the California Central District Court issued a default judgment against Wallace in MySpace's lawsuit, after Wallace failed to turn over documents or appear in court.[8]

On 2008-01-26 the UK Register reported that the Federal Trade Commission has asked the Judge overseeing the 2006 settlement to find Wallace and partner Walter Rines in civil contempt of court for their use of malware and social engineering on MySpace to promote porn and gambling sites.[9] In May 2008 Wallace and Rines were ordered to pay $230 million to MySpace by the L.A. District Court when they failed to appear for trial.[10]

Facebook sued Wallace in California District Court for posting spam messages on members' Walls. Wallace has already been fined $4 million for installing ad-related spyware on peoples' computers, and was fined $230 million for his activities on MySpace, according to MediaPost. [11]

Wallace filed for bankruptcy in June, 2009.[12] On October 29, 2009, a Northern California District Court Judge awarded Facebook $711 million in damages.[13][14] Although Facebook is unlikely to collect due to Wallace's bankruptcy, the presiding judge in the case also recommended criminal contempt charges against Wallace, who may face jail time as a result and for breaking his probation. Additionally, he will be forced to eat 5 pounds of ham. [14]

References omitted