• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, May 5, 2006

A federal judge in New Hampshire ordered notorious spammer Sanford Wallace to pay more than $4 million for distributing spyware, the Federal Trade Commission announced Thursday.

Judge Joseph A. DiClerico, Jr. found that Wallace and his companies--Seismic Entertainment Productions, Inc. and Smartbot.Net--downloaded ad-serving programs to consumers without first obtaining their permission. "Consumers whose computers were exploited received a stream of pop-up advertisements, had their IE [Internet Explorer] web browser home page changed to a different web page controlled by Wallace, had their Internet searches hijacked, had their web browsers redirected to web pages different than those that they selected, and had their computers' memory and resources depleted," wrote DiClerico.

The case,filed by the FTC in October 2004, marked the first time the agency had brought a lawsuit related to spyware.

In addition to the $4 million in restitution, DiClerico also issued an injunction barring Wallace from downloading any software to consumers without their consent.

This case wasn't Wallace's first brush with Internet scams. Years ago, he gained notoriety for sending unsolicited bulk e-mail, earning the nickname "Spamford" Wallace.

He did not appear in court late last year, when DiClerico heard the FTC's evidence in the case. But when the FTC first filed the case, he indicated that he was going to contest the charges. At the time, he posted a statement on his Web site saying that he didn't "intentionally cause damage to anything or anyone." He also stated that he intended to cooperate with a government investigation, and would immediately cease any activities that were found to be illegal.