Facebook Sues Ad Network Max Bounty and Two Execs
By Anna Johnson on October 26th, 2010Facebook is suing advertising network Max Bounty, Inc. and two individuals – Steven Richter and Jason Swan – of using deceptive practices to trick Facebook members into handing over their personal information, sending spam to friends, or signing up for fake offers.
Explaining the lawsuits, the Facebook Security team said:
“the defendants, among other things, represented that in order to qualify for certain fake or deceptive offers, people had to spam their friends, sign up for automatic mobile phone subscription services, or provide other information. We claim that by doing this, they violated the U.S. Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act (CAN-SPAM), and other state and federal laws.”
Facebook isn’t shy of bringing legal action against those it deems to have used Facebook to spam its members. In fact, the company holds the record for the two largest judgments in the history of the CAN-SPAM Act – an $873 million judgment against Adam Guerbuez and Atlantis Blue Capital and a $711 million judgment against Sanford Wallace.
Let that be a warning to all Internet marketers thinking about trying to ‘game’ Facebook or its users…
