MySpace has won a legal decision against so-called 'spam king' Sanford Wallace after he failed numerous times to turn over documents or attend hearings.
In March last year, MySpace filed a suit alleging Wallace launched a phishing scam in October 2006 to fraudulently access MySpace profiles. Wallace was also accused of spamming thousands of MySpace users with advertisements and luring them to his Web sites.
According to court documents filed in April, Wallace was ordered numerous times to turn over documents requested by MySpace and to give a deposition. However, Wallace failed to comply.
Initially Wallace claimed he was having difficulties finding legal counsel. Later he claimed he was unaware of his court dates because he wasn't accepting mail or signing for packages.
After Wallace continuously failed to appear or respond to filing deadlines, the court issued a default judgment against Wallace.
"It is...a defendant's responsibility to respond to discovery, obey court orders, and avoid dilatory tactics," the court wrote in its decision. "Taking all of the above factors into account, a default is appropriate. The Court finds that Wallace's noncompliance is due to willfulness, fault, or bad faith...Wallace has had every opportunity to avoid the sanction of default. (He) has never provided any explanation for his behavior to the Court."
He has been sued by the Federal Trade Commission and companies such as AOL and Concentric Network Corp. In May 2006, Wallace and his company Smartbot.net were ordered by a federal court to turn over US$4,089,500.
MySpace did not respond to an interview request.
Compared to the millions this guy rakes in any fine will be a pittance. I bet his attorney even told him to go down this route. On the other hand maybe his inbox was full of %$#$@ so he did not have time to attend.