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Facebook Wins $873 Million Lawsuit Against Spammer

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the also-my-uncle-has-some-free-money-for-you dept.

damn_registrars writes "A US District judge has awarded $873 million dollars to Facebook in a default judgment against a spammer who sent messages to Facebook users about drugs and sex. This is the highest award so far in a civil suit under the CAN-SPAM Act."

15 of 128 comments (clear)

  1. It's too much to discourage anyone. by onion2k · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company predicted the judgment will be difficult to collect, but is hoping that its size discourages future abuses at its site.

    Except it won't. It's too much. Basic psychology dictates that once you get above a certain risk people will start to ignore it because there's no difference between that and "everything". For people who don't have a great deal to start with losing everything isn't that big a deal. An amount that's a real tangible quantity that someone could conceivably earn is actually a bigger discouragement because people can imagine losing it, and that will put them off because if they can imagine themselves earning it they can envisage themselves losing it.

    I'm not suggesting that it should have been any lower of course. I just think we need to be pragmatic about what a punishment is. If we want it to be something that puts other people off doing the same thing then we could think up something better.

    --
    http://twitter.com/onion2k
    1. Re:It's too much to discourage anyone. by Fluffeh · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You know, I reckon it would have been much much better to shut the company down (yes the millions of dollars damages will shut it down and facebook might get a few grand out of it) but I say put the spammers into jail for a bit. Not over the top, but say six months?

      Closing a company and starting it over in a new name isn't a deterrent. It's a business plan these guys have. Put the owner in the nick for a few months, and I bet he starts chirping a different tune.

      --
      Moved to http://soylentnews.org/. You are invited to join us too!
    2. Re:It's too much to discourage anyone. by TehZorroness · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Six months in prison is a long tiome for a crime that caused no physical harm to anyone.

  2. Irony? by svvampy · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Facebook is my biggest source of spam, regaling me with the online exploits of people I once kinda knew.

    1. Re:Irony? by The+Good+Reverend · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Since you added them as friends, and can control what you see from each user, it's not really "Spam", is it?

      Your half-hearted attempt to be a cool hater is recognized, but ultimately fails.

  3. Re:Weird by negRo_slim · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I'm pretty sure FB is loving this because they have got to be strapped for cash without any real business plan.

    What you mean providing a psuedo geocities/flickr/youtube/email service isn't going to make you money?

    --
    On the Oregon Cost born and raised, On the beach is where I spent most of my days
  4. Should we celebrate? The same as Spamhaus? by whoever57 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This appears to be a default judgment against a non-US entity. Is this so much different from the much-derided judgment against Spamhaus?

    --
    The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
  5. I suppose we know how to fill in #2 by TheRealMindChild · · Score: 4, Insightful

    1) Start spamable website
    2) ???
    3) Profit

    --

    "When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back!" -- Cave Johnson
    1. Re:I suppose we know how to fill in #2 by Rayeth · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Yeah apparently the ??? has always stood for "Sue".

  6. $873 million you say? Really? by i_want_you_to_throw_ · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Well good luck collecting it. Mod me down if you must but I just don't see the point in awarding ridiculous amounts that will never be collected. Besides who even knows if that IS the real amount justified?

    Reminds me of companies saying how hackers cost them gazillions of dollars because they copied a manual or some dumb shit back in the late 80s/early 90s.

    Guess I'm a cynic about any judgements being made by non technical people on technical issues. Not that spam is rocket surgery....

  7. But does it come in the shade of ridiculous by sakonofie · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Well just because TFA is just that short, here it is in new bold action:

    SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) â" Facebook has won a $873 million judgment against a Canadian man who bombarded users with millions of unsolicited messages about drugs and sex.
    U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel signed the default judgment Friday, resolving a lawsuit that Facebook filed in August against Adam Guerbuez of Montreal and his business, Atlantis Blue Capital.
    Facebook alleged that Guerbuez had fooled users into revealing their passwords so he could send out more than 4 million messages that included promotions for marijuana. Guerbuez could not be located for comment.
    The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company predicted the judgment will be difficult to collect, but is hoping that its size discourages future abuses at its site.

    So the standard cost of a foreigner sending me spam is ~$200 per message if they don't show up to court?

    Also Facebook, please don't file lawsuits that you don't expect to have any direct impact. The courts are busy enough without you.

  8. The next lawsuit. by Zathain+Sicarius · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Maybe they will sue the creators of all those applications that do nothing but spew out invites...

  9. Re:Judgment Not Worth the Paper It's Printed On by cencithomas · · Score: 2, Insightful

    ...and is that name attached to an actual human being?

    Because if I were the spammer, I sure as heck wouldn't be using my real name to get the job done.

    --
    ...'tis easier to blame than to improve.
  10. Why? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Why would facebook get any money? Facebook didn't get the spam, their users did. That money should be awarded to the facebook users who actually received the spam. Facebook users should file lawsuits against Facebook for getting that spam. Seems they would have a good chance of winning since Facebook set the precedence with their win.

  11. heh by shentino · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Jolly good luck collecting.

    First of all, this guy had the sleaze not to bother showing up in court.

    Second of all, he most likely is unreachable

    Third, if he ever is found, most of his spamming revenues are likely to be subject to forfeiture on grounds of racketeering, leaving doubts as to how much will be left for Facebook to collect.