MySpace Wins Huge Judgment Against Spam King
In the largest anti-spam judgment of all time, “Spam King” Sanford Wallace and partner Walter Rines owe MySpace $230 million for their illegal spam practices on the social networking site after failing to show up for a Los Angeles court hearing.
The pair were prosecuted based on the 2003 federal CAN-SPAM law, which entitles companies $100 for each spam email sent, and the number is tripled if it is done “knowingly and willfully.”
Wallace and Rines’ spam emails were cloaked to look like they were coming from MySpace friends, either by creating their own phony MySpace accounts or using phishing techniques to obtain passwords. The emails, from supposedly trusted sources, pointed the user in the direction of something they were selling, often ringtones.
The pair sent more than 730,000 such messages.
Sanford, or “Spamford” as he is known, was head of Cyber Promotions in the 1990’s, when it was estimated his company sent as many as 30 million spam emails a day. He left the company under a cloud of legal trouble, but returned with a $4 million spyware judgment two years ago.
Thanks to the AP for the story.
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