MySpace has won yet another victory against a spammer that used the popular social networking service to send out thousands of unsolicited commercial messages to its members. Colorado native Scott Richter and his company, Media Breakaway LLC, have been slapped with $6 million in damages and attorney's fees for violations of the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003, in addition to the Lanham Act, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, California's anti-spamming statute, and the California Anti-Phishing Act of 2005.
"MySpace has zero tolerance for illegal activity on our site and is committed to bringing to justice those who try to harm our members," MySpace said in a statement. "This award reflects MySpace's continued momentum and holistic approach to ridding the site of spammers and phishers through technological innovation, education, partnerships and enforcement. We will continue to do our part in cleansing the Internet of this invasive onslaught of spam."
According to MySpace, Richter used his account—as well as a number of other people's accounts that he obtained by way of phishing—to fill the inboxes (and bulletin spaces) of MySpace members with spam. MySpace said that this not only diminished the experience of using the site (if such a thing is possible), but was also against its terms of service and, most importantly, against the law. Not only was Richter himself guilty of spamming users, he apparently employed a broad affiliate network to help carry out his misdeeds. Media Breakaway insisted, however, that it was unaware of the activities of its affiliates and shouldn't be held responsible for what a handful of rogue employees had done.
The arbiters in MySpace's case wrote in their decision that they felt a need to award substantial damages, due to Richter's "undisputed admission that he would be willing to pay $1 million in litigation to make $8 million in profit." The total is split into $4,800,000 in damages and $1,200,000 in attorney's fees, and Richter and his company are permanently banned from creating accounts at MySpace or using the service for any reason.
On Media Breakaway's side, the company represented the decision as something akin to a victory. The company claims that the damages awarded were "95 percent less than the amount demanded by MySpace," and that Media Breakaway had long ago changed its policies to ensure that such activities would not occur. "Our goal is to continuously enhance our compliance programs and exceed what is required by law and industry best practices," said Richter in a statement. "[W]e look toward the future to work with online companies to help define and implement advertising best practices for our industry."
This isn't the first time either party—MySpace or Richter—have been in court over spam. Just last month, MySpace won the largest CAN-SPAM-related judgment in US history after the defendants failed to show up in court. The result was $234 million in damages because the two defendants had worked together to create or steal MySpace accounts to send out messages with links to ringtones, porn, and other affiliate sites (sounds familiar?). Richter has also been in trouble with the law—in 2004, he announced a settlement with the New York State Attorney General's Office due to his (comparatively minor) involvement in a different spam lawsuit.
Given the fact that Richter clearly did not cease his activities then, it seems unlikely that he will stop now. After all, a $6 million payout in litigation means $48 million in profits, right?
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