"Spam King" ordered to pay Facebook 711 million dollars...

A US judge has ordered a self-crowned "Spam King" to pay Facebook 711 million dollars for slipping uninvited into people's accounts to send bogus marketing messages.

Facebook on Friday acknowledged that Sanford Wallace is unlikely to pay the money awarded by the court but proclaimed the ruling a blow in an ongoing battle against spam at the leading online social-networking service.

"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," Sam O'Rourke of the Facebook legal team said in a blog post announcing the ruling.

"This is another important victory in our fight against spam. We will continue to pursue damages against other spammers. More...

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