Los Angeles (CA) – MySpace has won a massive $230 million judgment against two notorious SPAM “kings” after the pair didn’t even show up to court. The company had sued so-called “Spam King” Sanford Wallace and his associate Walter Rines for sending out 730,000 messages from stolen and hacked MySpace accounts. Wallace and Rines didn’t show up for a court hearing and MySpace won a summary judgment.
Wallace and Rines gained notoriety in the mid-90s for running SPAM email operations that spat out up to 30 million messages a day. In the late 1990s, Wallace tried going semi-legit by forming GTMI and SmartBotPRO.net, both opt-in email marketing companies. However, he was forced to shut down after the Federal Trade Commission won a $4 million judgment against him.
According to the Associated Press, approximately $157.4 million of the award was entered against Wallace and Rines jointly while an extra $63.4 million was added on against Rines under the CAN-SPAM Act. An extra $6 million was added for attorney and miscellaneous fees.
Wallace and Rines gained notoriety in the mid-90s for running SPAM email operations that spat out up to 30 million messages a day. In the late 1990s, Wallace tried going semi-legit by forming GTMI and SmartBotPRO.net, both opt-in email marketing companies. However, he was forced to shut down after the Federal Trade Commission won a $4 million judgment against him.
According to the Associated Press, approximately $157.4 million of the award was entered against Wallace and Rines jointly while an extra $63.4 million was added on against Rines under the CAN-SPAM Act. An extra $6 million was added for attorney and miscellaneous fees.