Yahoo Gets $610 Million Settlement Over Email Spammers

Sites include Yahoo.com . Published on December 12th, 2011. Written by Anthony West.

Spam is one of those problems that all free web-based providers have and often it is very difficult to enforce sanctions provided for under legislation like the Can Spam Act. But Yahoo it seems has had a breakthrough.

According to reports, the search giant has received over $610 million in compensation for what was a wide scale spam email campaign waged under the guise of a legitimate lottery.  The lawsuit was filed by Yahoo all the way back in 2008 under the jurisdiction of New York common law. It was this locality of the suit and the spamming activity that made the case for compensation.

It’s not clear if the defendants are Americans or foreigners operating on American soil, but one thing is clear: “this pay-out will set a precedent”. After all, email providers like Yahoo have been trying for years to bring someone to the books for violating its spam and privacy terms of service. Try as they might over the years, neither Yahoo nor Google have had any luck—not to mention the spam-laden Hotmail.

This judgment therefore marks a minor achievement in the fight against spam and no doubt will act as catalysts for future lawsuits against spammers. Of course, the spammers themselves will step up their game, especially now that they see what the potential penalties are of getting caught. Watching the battle unfold will be intriguing indeed.

Do you think the judgment will be a deterrent to spamming? Share your thoughts below.