Firm calls judgment warning to spammers
san francisco–Facebook Inc., the worlds largest social-networking website, won an order requiring the owner of a Canadian-based site to pay $873.3 million (U.S.) for illegally using Facebook users’ log-in information to send spam.
U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel in San Jose, California, on Nov. 21 issued the order against Adam Guerbuez, of Montreal, the owner of Atlantis Blue Capital and the site Ballervision.com.
Fogel awarded Facebook damages of $436.6 million for the spam and doubled the award against Guerbuez for aggravated violations of the 2003 CAN-SPAM Act by illegally accessing Facebook data, said Facebook spokesperson Barry Schnitt.
"This should make it clear that were going to be aggressive about protecting our users from spam, Schnitt said. "Certainly, the amount is beyond his resources, but we are working through the channels to find and seize what assets he does have."
The judge barred Guerbuez from accessing Facebook’s data.
Guerbuez never fought the case or appeared in court, according to Schnitt. He didn’t have a lawyer and he couldn’t be reached for comment business card maker.
As such, the victory probably won’t yield a windfall for privately held Facebook, whose revenue this year is expected to range between $250 million to $300 million.
Court records indicate the alleged spammer has been difficult to find since Facebook sued him four months ago.
But Facebook is hoping the size of the judgment will scare off other spammers who might be tempted to target the Palo Alto, Calif.-based company’s audience of more than 120 million users.
Facebook said Guerbuez fooled its users into providing him with their usernames and passwords. One method was the use of fake websites that posed as legitimate destinations.
After Guerbuez gained access to user’s personal profiles, he used computer programs to send out more than four million messages promoting products including marijuana and penis enlargement drugs, Facebook said.
From the Star’s wire services
Filed under: online by Pascal