Spammer slammed by MySpace lawsuit

By Stan Beer
Tuesday, 23 January 2007 13:55

Your IT - Home IT

News Corporation owned social networking site MySpace.com has launched a lawsuit against one of the world's most high profile self-confessed spammers. MySpace alleged in the US District Court of Los Angeles that Scott Richter has used stolen passwords to access user profiles in order to inundate MySpace members with unsolicited junk mail.

The MySpace lawsuit has accused Richter of using phishing techniques, including spoofing login pages, to harvest account details so that spam emails could be sent to MySpace members that appeared to come from of other members.

This is not the first time Richter has been slapped with a lawsuit. Previous cases in which Richter has settled includes a US$7 million settlement with Microsoft in 2005.

MySpace, which has more than 100 million registered members and is one of the most visited sites in the US, has had more than its share of troubles in the past year. In addition to facing lawsuits from families of under age girls who were sexually assaulted by predators they made contact with on the site, MySpace has been hit with a copyright infringement suit from Vivendi's Universal Music Group and a worm that lead members to compromise their security on fake websites.

MySpace, is determined to show that it is serious in fighting spammers and protecting the identity of its members. However, it is faced with the spectre of possible legal action from members who have had their security compromised through using the site.