Court to Montrealer: pay Facebook $1 billion
Court to Montrealer: pay Facebook $1 billion - Yahoo! Canada News
Tue Oct 5, 5:14 PM
By Nelson Wyatt, The Canadian Press
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MONTREAL - Spammers have gotten a stern warning that the Canadian border is no protection from U.S. law.
A Montreal man has been ordered to pay Facebook $1 billion after allegedly plastering its members' online walls with a variety of messages including penis-enlargement ads.
Quebec Superior Court upheld a ruling by a U.S. court that Adam Guerbuez owed the money for allegedly flooding Facebook pages with more than four million messages.
The case is touted as a potential precedent-setter with some calling it the largest such penalty, by far, in Canadian legal history.
But Facebook shouldn't hold its breath waiting for the money. Guerbuez says he's legally broke and therefore not compelled to give anything to the social-networking giant.
"I don't have to," he said in an interview with The Canadian Press on Tuesday.
"I officially declared bankruptcy and it was filed and put into effect over two months ago. This judgment was already deposed as part of the bankruptcy."
He expressed surprise that the courts had sided with Facebook.
A court in California ruled in 2008 that Guerbuez had violated U.S. anti-spam laws. He was ordered to pay Facebook $873.3 million US or $100 in damages and $100 in penalties for each of the more than 4 million messages he allegedly sent.
That works out to more than $1 billion Cdn under the exchange rate at the time of the 2008 verdict, according to Quebec Superior Court.
Facebook asked the Canadian court to enforce the verdict in this country and, in a judgment rendered last week, the Quebec Superior Court agreed.
Justice Lucie Fournier also forbade Guerbuez from having a Facebook account or having any contact whatsoever with the social-networking site.
But Guerbuez said Tuesday he has never publicly admitted to posting the messages.
Guerbuez's Canadian lawyer, Eric Potvin, said the U.S ruling was granted by default because Guerbuez didn't present a defence in the original case. He said his client has 30 days to decide if he wants to appeal.
But Guerbuez said the experience has generally been positive for him. He said there's even a book deal in the works about his case.
Guerbuez, who has been fascinated by computers and the Internet since he was a child, said he promotes a variety of products, including medication to treat such conditions as erectile dysfunction and enlarge men's genitals.
He said people have offered him jobs and raised business opportunities since learning about his case.
"The truth about this actually is that it's only helped me to become more of a public figure," said Guerbuez, who described his job as an Internet marketing professional not a spammer.
"It's been plenty of free publicity."
However, even Guerbuez acknowledged the message from the courts is a chilling one for Internet entrepreneurs such as himself.
"American corporations and foreign corporations can now just come into Quebec and enforce ridiculous judgments on laws that are only applicable in their country against people in Quebec," he said.
Michael Geist, a expert in Internet and e-commerce law at the University of Ottawa, said there are several Canadian companies among the roughly 200 top spamming organizations in the world.
They account for about 80 per cent of the spam generated, he noted, pointing out that junk mail can go beyond nuisance and result in hacking and fraud, although he stressed he wasn't referring to Guerbuez's case when he mentioned this.
But Guerbuez did set a precedent, he noted.
"It's the largest spam award in Canada," Geist said.
"I think it certainly places the spotlight on the fact that Canada has gone years now without the ability to sue spammers. Essentially those that want to take on Canadian-based spammers have been forced to turn to U.S. courts."
Then they have to turn back and try getting the judgments enforced in Canada.
While the amount granted by the U.S. court is astronomical, Geist noted there are also significant numbers mentioned in proposed Canadian legislation "up to $10 million per infringement."
Geist said Canada needs such legislation so it doesn't turn into a haven for spammers, with people firing out their junk mail without any fear of repercussions.
Wow....where is he going to come up with $1 billion to pay for fines ?
Court to Montrealer: pay Facebook $1 billion - Yahoo! Canada News
Tue Oct 5, 5:14 PM
By Nelson Wyatt, The Canadian Press
ADVERTISEMENT
MONTREAL - Spammers have gotten a stern warning that the Canadian border is no protection from U.S. law.
A Montreal man has been ordered to pay Facebook $1 billion after allegedly plastering its members' online walls with a variety of messages including penis-enlargement ads.
Quebec Superior Court upheld a ruling by a U.S. court that Adam Guerbuez owed the money for allegedly flooding Facebook pages with more than four million messages.
The case is touted as a potential precedent-setter with some calling it the largest such penalty, by far, in Canadian legal history.
But Facebook shouldn't hold its breath waiting for the money. Guerbuez says he's legally broke and therefore not compelled to give anything to the social-networking giant.
"I don't have to," he said in an interview with The Canadian Press on Tuesday.
"I officially declared bankruptcy and it was filed and put into effect over two months ago. This judgment was already deposed as part of the bankruptcy."
He expressed surprise that the courts had sided with Facebook.
A court in California ruled in 2008 that Guerbuez had violated U.S. anti-spam laws. He was ordered to pay Facebook $873.3 million US or $100 in damages and $100 in penalties for each of the more than 4 million messages he allegedly sent.
That works out to more than $1 billion Cdn under the exchange rate at the time of the 2008 verdict, according to Quebec Superior Court.
Facebook asked the Canadian court to enforce the verdict in this country and, in a judgment rendered last week, the Quebec Superior Court agreed.
Justice Lucie Fournier also forbade Guerbuez from having a Facebook account or having any contact whatsoever with the social-networking site.
But Guerbuez said Tuesday he has never publicly admitted to posting the messages.
Guerbuez's Canadian lawyer, Eric Potvin, said the U.S ruling was granted by default because Guerbuez didn't present a defence in the original case. He said his client has 30 days to decide if he wants to appeal.
But Guerbuez said the experience has generally been positive for him. He said there's even a book deal in the works about his case.
Guerbuez, who has been fascinated by computers and the Internet since he was a child, said he promotes a variety of products, including medication to treat such conditions as erectile dysfunction and enlarge men's genitals.
He said people have offered him jobs and raised business opportunities since learning about his case.
"The truth about this actually is that it's only helped me to become more of a public figure," said Guerbuez, who described his job as an Internet marketing professional not a spammer.
"It's been plenty of free publicity."
However, even Guerbuez acknowledged the message from the courts is a chilling one for Internet entrepreneurs such as himself.
"American corporations and foreign corporations can now just come into Quebec and enforce ridiculous judgments on laws that are only applicable in their country against people in Quebec," he said.
Michael Geist, a expert in Internet and e-commerce law at the University of Ottawa, said there are several Canadian companies among the roughly 200 top spamming organizations in the world.
They account for about 80 per cent of the spam generated, he noted, pointing out that junk mail can go beyond nuisance and result in hacking and fraud, although he stressed he wasn't referring to Guerbuez's case when he mentioned this.
But Guerbuez did set a precedent, he noted.
"It's the largest spam award in Canada," Geist said.
"I think it certainly places the spotlight on the fact that Canada has gone years now without the ability to sue spammers. Essentially those that want to take on Canadian-based spammers have been forced to turn to U.S. courts."
Then they have to turn back and try getting the judgments enforced in Canada.
While the amount granted by the U.S. court is astronomical, Geist noted there are also significant numbers mentioned in proposed Canadian legislation "up to $10 million per infringement."
Geist said Canada needs such legislation so it doesn't turn into a haven for spammers, with people firing out their junk mail without any fear of repercussions.
Wow....where is he going to come up with $1 billion to pay for fines ?
