MySpace has filed suit against Scott Richter, CEO of Media Breakaway, claiming he and his company were actively “spamming” millions of MySpace users in violation of the CAN-SPAM Act and other federal and California state statutes. The suit seeks both monetary damages and a permanent injunction barring Richter and his companies from MySpace.
This comes as a shock to the hundreds of affiliate marketers and networks that have been using MySpace as a means of getting virtually free traffic to completely lead-based offers.
As online social networking websites have grown in popularity, many spammers have sought get in on the action and capitalize on the high volume of free traffic. But, just how far spammers are willing to go in this quest remains unknown.
Some of the common tactics spammers are using include sending ad-based bulletins, requesting thousands of friends via software robots, and even stealing members’ passwords (known as phishing) to promote their offers. Already, MySpace.com has implemented a variety of filters that attempt to slow the use of robots, and are aggresively deleting “spam accounts” when they are discovered.
And so, it seems the social networks have been forced to join the epic battle between spammers and online service providers by struggling to develop effective measures to deter spammers while avoiding obtrusive obstacles to free expression among legitimate members.
To read more about SPAM and how it affects markets and marketing professionals, visit the MarketingExperiments Journal
-Robert
