Facebook awarded $873 million in spam case against Montreal spammer (14)
Facebook won yesterday a case against Adam Guerbuez, and his “company”, Atlantis Blue Capital. Facebook sued under the CAN-SPAM (Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing) Act, and was awared $873 million US in damages.
Adam Guerbuez stole user credentials on varous phishing websites he setup, and then used those login information to spam Facebook users & friends about various dating, porn, drug and “male-enhacement pills” websites. See also here a story on how he got rich by selling videos of people attacking homeless people. Adam Guerbuez, his company, and 26 other indivuduals identified in the case, were based & operating in Montreal.
The ruling also forbid M. Guerbuez to use again Facebook, although it’s probably the least of his worries.
This is by far the biggest amount awarded to a company for anti-spam. Myspace also received a favourable ruling earlier this year, but the damages were “just” $230 million.
Who said spam doesn’t pay?!?!
I hope they manage to collect.
I also hope Facebook manages to collect the damages from Adam, everything he got from the scheme
Seems like Facebook finally get his economic model…
If this guy doesn’t have any personal assets in USA then Facebook won’t see a single penny. They might issue an arrest warrant and he might not be able to visit USA anymore but that should be pretty much it.
It’s an American law against a Canadian citizen. As much as I hate spam, I truly hope they won’t get him otherwise this will be the beginning of something very, very bad.
Denis, I agree although I do not know the legalities behind CAN-SPAM. i don’t know if it’s just a U.S. thing or if other countries like Canada also signed it.
[...] Facebook vs. Montreal spammer: In November 2008, Facebook won its CAN-SPAM lawsuit against Canadian Adam Guerbuez, a spammer who clogged account holders’ pages with pornographic websites and other unsavory pitches. Guerbuez and the 26 others accused of spamming Facebook users were found guilty, and Facebook was awarded $873 million. [...]
You made some good points there. I did a search on the topic and found most people will agree with your blog.
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