Apr 10, 2006 : California Spam Ring Reaches Settlement
📅 - The Federal Trade Commission announced last week that, together with the state of California, it has arranged a deal with the people responsible for a large spam operation in which they have agreed to pay $475,000 and refrain from illegal activity. The settlement ends a long road of litigation.
The deal, which does not include an admission of any wrongdoing, was reached with Optin Global, Vision Media, Qing Kuang "Rick" Yang and Peonie Pui Ting Chen, the FTC said in a statement released last week. The defendants violated federal and state laws when they sent millions of junk email messages advertising mortgage loans and other products and services, says the FTC. Spam recipients forwarded nearly 2 million of the messages to the agency.
As part of the settlement, the defendants have agreed to hand over what is left of the $2.4 million that they made off the operation, says the FTC. Since most of the nettings are already gone, they must pay $385,000 in cash and approximately $90,000 from the sale of property. However, if it is found that the defendants misrepresented their financial situation, they will have to pay the entire $2.4 million, says the FTC.
In April 2005, the FTC and the state of California first sued the defendants, charging that they had used third-party affiliates to send spam email. The messages included links to Web sites operated by the defendants and violated the federal Can-spam Act and California law. Last year, the FTC requested a court order to put a temporary halt on the operation's spamming and froze the defendants' assets.
The deal, which does not include an admission of any wrongdoing, was reached with Optin Global, Vision Media, Qing Kuang "Rick" Yang and Peonie Pui Ting Chen, the FTC said in a statement released last week. The defendants violated federal and state laws when they sent millions of junk email messages advertising mortgage loans and other products and services, says the FTC. Spam recipients forwarded nearly 2 million of the messages to the agency.
As part of the settlement, the defendants have agreed to hand over what is left of the $2.4 million that they made off the operation, says the FTC. Since most of the nettings are already gone, they must pay $385,000 in cash and approximately $90,000 from the sale of property. However, if it is found that the defendants misrepresented their financial situation, they will have to pay the entire $2.4 million, says the FTC.
In April 2005, the FTC and the state of California first sued the defendants, charging that they had used third-party affiliates to send spam email. The messages included links to Web sites operated by the defendants and violated the federal Can-spam Act and California law. Last year, the FTC requested a court order to put a temporary halt on the operation's spamming and froze the defendants' assets.
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URL source: http://www.thewhir.com/marketwatch/041006_California_Spam_Ring_Reaches_Settlement.cfm
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