• The Guardian (UK), Friday, October 30, 2009 1:02 PM

In lieu of a more traditional monetization model, Facebook might consider some legal work. The top social network was just awarded $711.2 million in damages after winning a case against Sanford Wallace -- a.k.a. "Spamford," a.k.a. "The Spam King" -- who sent mail and made posts without the permission of Facebook's users.

"If Facebook could collect, this type of lawsuit would still be a really big money maker for the company," surmises paidContent.

This marks the second time Facebook's won a big judgment against a spammer. Last November, a judge awarded the company $873 million in a separate spam case brought against a man who was sending "sleazy" messages to other members of the community.

Alas, common wisdom says that Facebook is highly unlikely to collect it millions. "Facebook, of course, will never see a dime of that money," writes TechDirt.com.

Well aware of that fact, Facebook does say it's "confident that today's ruling will act as a powerful deterrent against those who would abuse Facebook and its users."

Still, even this seemingly benign objective has some bloggers rolling their eyes. Writes Frank Reed on Marketing Pilgrim: "While I understand the desire to clean things up, this image of a Facebook super hero approach to the spam issue is too much for even the most zealous Facebook supporter to not chuckle at."

Read the whole story at The Guardian (UK) »