Social networking firm Facebook was awarded $873 million in damages as a result of actions it took against a spammer.
According to a post on Facebook’s blog from Max Kelly, the company’s director of security, federal Judge Jeremy Fogel awarded Facebook the damages after Adam Guerbuez and Atlantis Blue Capital sent “sleazy messages to our users.”
The award is the largest judgment in history for an action brought under the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act (CAN-SPAM), Kelly claimed within his post.
“Does Facebook expect to quickly collect $873 million and share the proceeds in some way with our users?” Kelly wrote. “Alas, no. It's unlikely that Geurbez and Atlantis Blue Capital could ever honor the judgment rendered against them (though we will certainly collect everything we can). But we are confident that this award represents a powerful deterrent to anyone and everyone who would seek to abuse Facebook and its users.
