Facebook awarded $873 million in damages after spam lawsuit

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There is spam in the world everywhere you look, whether it be in newspapers in the form of adverts or in your inbox as emails offering enhancements to your body or cheap priced software. But the last place you should expect spam is in your Facebook inbox.

It seems that Facebook didn't like their users getting bombarded with stupid messages either, and they took the issue to court. On Friday, the courts ruled and now the offending spammers, Adam Guerbuez and Atlantis Blue Capital, must pay Facebook a total of $873 million. This breaks the previous record, $234 million, that MySpace received in a similar spamming case.

Most spamming companies turn a big profit each year, but nowhere near as much as they have been ordered to pay Facebook, so the chances of Facebook ever seeing their money is pretty slim. In addition, no one in the company will face jail time meaning the verdict is really more of a warning to other potential spammers, of what could happen if they try it.

The company was charged under a law called CAN-SPAM Act which was signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2003.

(1 reply) #1 rm20010 on 25 Nov 2008 - 02:21

Owned.

#1.1 thenonhacker on 25 Nov 2008 - 15:20

rm20010 said,

M-M-M-M-M-MONSTER KILL!!!

#2 kalam_ on 25 Nov 2008 - 02:25

A step in the right direction.

(3 replies) #3 LTD on 25 Nov 2008 - 02:34

But will that be enough to fix Facebook?

#3.1 +TCLN Ryster on 25 Nov 2008 - 12:07

LTD said,

I like facebook the way it is thank you very much.

#3.2 C_Guy on 25 Nov 2008 - 17:03

Well good, good for you. But Facebook still needs to be "fixed" back to the way it was before.

Wait a second. LTD and I agree on something? Turn up the thermostat, h_ll just froze over!

#3.3 +M2Ys4U on 25 Nov 2008 - 17:33

C_Guy said,

I can't even remember how Facebook was before :s

#4 Tikitiki on 25 Nov 2008 - 02:34

Beautiful. Now if only there was a picture of these asshats getting pwned at the ruling.

Last edited by Tikitiki on 25 Nov 2008 - 02:40

#5 nunjabusiness on 25 Nov 2008 - 02:46

Without SERIOUS punishment (i.e. jail time) they will just do it again under a new name.
What little money does get recovered by FaceBook was not these guys' in the first place.

WTF kind of name is "Guerbuez" anyway? Just try to pronounce it!

#6 lylesback2 on 25 Nov 2008 - 03:32

Take that. So sick of all spammers

#7 Stormeh on 25 Nov 2008 - 04:37

To be honest, this may be a blow for that company, but I don't see it as a deterrent. The big verdict has a nice ring to it, but as the author pointed out, Facebook will never see the money, or perhaps just a tiny amount of it. There's no REAL deterrent in place (No jail time).

However, jail time doesn't exactly work either, because if you're going to classify a spammer as a crime, you're going to have to arrest all those who deliver flyers around your neighborhood.

#8 afusion on 25 Nov 2008 - 05:24

My God that's allot of money.

#9 +statm1 on 25 Nov 2008 - 07:29

So what do you think... The two sides got together and said hmmm if we sue you for $873 million but you dont really have to pay it. Oh yep Ill be a good little boy. Oh and also I won't press for you to get any jail time either. You know you did something wrong. Your sorry.. That big number is really just to make the consumers think we did something for them today. No biggie.. Now stick out your wrist..

#10 thealexweb on 25 Nov 2008 - 08:06

FaceBook only makes 50 million a year so this is good news for them.

#11 cJr. on 25 Nov 2008 - 10:53

Erm, why can't they jail the spammers? Or at least force them to pay the fine? This would ruin them if they can't afford it and that's what they deserve!

#12 hey_romeo on 25 Nov 2008 - 11:10

#13 Magallanes on 25 Nov 2008 - 16:49

From google news afp:

Facebook welcomed on Monday a US court ruling against a Canadian spammer ordered to pay 873 million dollars in damages for sending unwanted messages to users of the popular social network.

So, extraterritorial talking, US court have not a legal status inside Canada, then those spammers can decide to return back to Canada and void the verdict or to pay the fine.

For the case, CAN-SPAM only can be applied for us citizen and or companies and individual inside USA, outside USA, the spammers are unextraditable.

#14 suicide_pact on 25 Nov 2008 - 21:31

Unfortunately, I hate to say because I hat litigiousness, what needs to happen is to just grind them down in the courts with expensive trial after trial. Hopefully criminal ones that they'll be compelled to fight, not just settle. That's what it will take to make it not worth it for these b-tards. Saying this however, I know the courts have BETTER uses for their time and resources.

#15 Glen on 26 Nov 2008 - 15:34

It will now be up to Facebook to pursue the payment and take them to court again if they do not comply to the judgment. It will be interesting to see how this plays out and if it sets any real precedent with regard to spamming and fines.

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