Spam King Ordered to Pay Facebook $711M

"Spam king" Sanford Wallace has been slapped with a $711 million judgment for spamming Facebook users. A California judge found that Wallace, who used phishing techniques to access Facebook accounts, violated a law against sending "false and misleading" marketing emails. The judge permanently banned Wallace from accessing Facebook and recommended he be prosecuted for criminal contempt, CNET reports.

Wallace, who filed for bankruptcy in June, may face jail time for violating a restraining order issued during the case. "While we don't expect to receive the vast majority of the award, we hope that this will act as a continued deterrent against these criminals," a Facebook lawyer wrote in a company blog post.
(More Facebook stories.)