MySpace Sues 'Spam King'

MySpace has filed a federal lawsuit against notorious "spam king" Scott Richter, charging that he sent "millions" of unsolicited messages to MySpace members between July and December last year.

The suit charges that Richter, a principal of Optinrealbig.com, CPA Empire.com and MediaBreakaway, oversaw an operation to send bulletins to MySpace members promising items like free Lacoste polo shirts, ringtones and Sidekick 3s.

MySpace charges that the bulletins were designed to appear as if they had been sent by members' friends. The lawsuit alleges that Richter, along with other defendants who worked for him, allegedly obtained login names and passwords of MySpace members, either by "phishing" or purchasing lists of "phished" names and passwords. Richter--who was based in Colorado--and the others then allegedly used that information to pose as fellow members of the site when sending messages.

In the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, MySpace accuses Richter of violating various federal laws, including Can-Spam, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, as well as California's anti-spam statute. The social networking site is seeking monetary damages and an injunction barring Richter from continuing to send bulletins to MySpace members.

This lawsuit is not Richter's first brush with the courts. In August of 2005, he agreed to pay $7 million to settle a lawsuit brought by Microsoft. He also previously settled a lawsuit brought by former New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.

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