Facebook wins $873 mn case against spammer

SAN FRANCISCO, USA: Popular social networking site Facebook recently revealed that it has won $873 million judgment against a Canadian man who bombarded the online hangout with sexually explicit 'spam' messages, says reports.

The judgment was issued in federal court in San Jose, California on Friday and the reward is said to be the largest Can-Spam (Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing) Act.

According to Facebook, Adam Guerbuez, a native of Montreal, and his company, Atlantis Blue Capital fooled its users into providing him with their usernames and passwords and created fake web sites that posed as legitimate destinations.

The court also forbids Guerbuez from using Facebook or interacting with its members ever again.

''Everyone who participates constructively in Facebook should feel confident that we are fighting hard to protect you against spam and other online nuisances,'' Max Kelly, director of security, Facebook.

The reports mentioned that he used computer programs to send out more than 4 million unsolicited messages about drugs and sex.

Facebook, however, does not expect to necessarily collect the money. "It's unlikely that Geurbez and Atlantis Blue Capital could ever honor the judgment rendered against them," wrote Max Kelly in a blog posting on Monday.

However, he expressed confidence that the judgment would act as a “powerful deterrent to anyone and everyone who would seek to abuse Facebook and its users”.