$10M judgment given in spamming case

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AUSTIN, Quebec, June 8 (UPI) -- A Texas federal court has awarded a $10 million judgment against a University of Texas student and his partners for operating a computer spamming operation.

In what is seen as one of the largest judgments in the country against a spammer, the court ordered Ryan Pitylak, 24, and three of his partners to pay civil penalties and lawyers' fees, reports the San Antonio Express-News.

A non-profit group that tracks unwanted commercial spam e-mails had once listed Pitylak, whose operation promoted low-rate mortgages, as the fourth-worst spammer in the world, the report said.

Experts praised the court's ruling based on the 2004 federal Can-Spam Act, which outlaws certain types of e-mail solicitation.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said in a statement, "Today's crackdown effectively shuts down one of the worst spam operators and sends a warning to others who would engage in spam e-mailing for profit."