“The record demonstrates that defendants willfully and knowingly violated the statutes in question by engaging in the circumvention of Facebook’s security measures.” —Fogel, District Judge 

Facts: Facebook, Inc. owns and operates the social networking website located at http://www.facebook.com. Facebook users must register with the website and agree to Facebook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities (SRR). Facebook maintains strict policies against spam or any other form of unsolicited advertising by users. Facebook filed a lawsuit in U.S. district court against Philip Porembski and PP Web Services, LLC, which was controlled by Porembski. Facebook alleged that Porembski registered as a Facebook user and was bound by the SRR. Porembski created PP Web Services LLC and was the sole person to act on its behalf. Through fraudulent misrepresentations, Porembski obtained more than 116,000 Facebook users’ account information. PP Web Services then sent more than 7.2 million spam messages to these Facebook users. Facebook alleged that the defendants’ spamming activities violated the federal Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act (CAN-SPAM Act). Facebook sought damages and a permanent injunction against the defendants. 

Issue: Did the defendants violate the CAN-SPAM Act? 

Language of the Court: The record demonstrates that defendants willfully and knowingly violated the statutes in question by engaging in the circumvention of Facebook’s security measures. The court will award statutory damages of $50.00 per violation of the CAN-SPAM Act, for a total award of $360,000,000 under that Act. It is appropriate that defendants be permanently enjoined from accessing and abusing Facebook services. Facebook’s request for permanent injunctive relief is granted. 

Decision: The U.S. district court held that the defendants had violated the CAN-SPAM Act, awarded Facebook $360,000,000 in damages, and issued a permanent injunction against the defendants. 

Ethics Questions: Did Porembski act ethically in this case? Will Facebook recover its awarded damages?