U.S. court slaps record fine on Facebook spammer

BOSTON Nov 24 (Reuters) - A U.S. federal judge ordered a man to pay Facebook a record $873 million in damages for breaking into the online social networking site and sending its members "sleazy" junk emails.

While privately held Facebook said it does not expect to collect anywhere near that amount of money, it does hope the ruling will discourage other potential spammers.

"We are confident that this award represents a powerful deterrent to anyone and everyone who would seek to abuse Facebook and its users," Facebook's director of security, Max Kelly, said in a blog entry posted on Monday.

The company plans to seize whatever assets it can from Adam Guerbuez, who was found guilty and fined by U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel of the Northern District of California in San Jose, California.

Facebook, which has more than 120 million members, sued Guerbuez under the provisions of a U.S. law known as CAN-SPAM, which stands for Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing.

Judge Fogel found that Guerbuez violated the law by sending emails about sexually oriented topics as well as unsolicited offers to buy drugs and other products to Facebook members.

The $873 million fine is the largest issued since CAN-SPAM was passed in 2003, according to Facebook. (Reporting by Jim Finkle, editing by Leslie Gevirtz)