MySpace.com Sues Alleged Spammer

MySpace.com has filed a federal lawsuit against a man who allegedly sent millions of spam "bulletins" advertising Web sites where users of the popular online social network could buy ring tones, polo shirts, and other products and services.

MySpace, owned by News Corp., sued Scott Richter Friday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. The suit seeks a permanent injunction barring Richter and affiliated companies from the online community. It also seeks unspecified monetary damages.

The latest spam suit is not the first against Richter. Microsoft and then-New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer sued Richter in 2003, when the defendant was known as one of the top spammers in the world, according to Microsoft. Richter and his company OptInRealBig.com LLC agreed to pay $7 million in a settlement reached two years later.

The MySpace lawsuit accuses Richter of violating the federal Can-Spam Act by sending millions of spam "bulletins" from MySpace user accounts from July to December. According to the suit, Richter either phished for accounts himself or acquired a list of phished accounts to launch the marketing campaign. The bulletins promoted Web sites offering a variety of products and services, including ring tones and polo shirts, MySpace said in a statement released Monday.

MySpace is the most popular online social network with 73.8 million visitors, according to comScore Networks. The site's popularity has made it a lucrative target for spammers and people distributing adware or spyware.

MySpace has filed other lawsuits against alleged spammers. The site bans advertising on members' profiles and prohibits a person from accepting payment or anything of value from a third person in exchange for performing any commercial activity on or through MySpace.