Facebook's $991m win over 'Spam King'

Monday 02 November 2009 11:15 GMT

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Facebook says a California court has awarded the social networking website $711 million (£433m) in damages in an anti-spam case against internet marketer Sanford Wallace.

Facebook sued Wallace for accessing users' accounts without their permission and sending phony posts and messages.

The company said on its blog that in addition to the damage award, the San Jose, California, court referred Wallace to the US Attorney's office for prosecution for criminal contempt of court - meaning he could face jail time.

Wallace earned the monikers "Spam King" and "Spamford" as head of a company that sent as many as 30 million junk emails a day in the 1990s.

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Facebook's $991m win over 'Spam King'

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