Internet Marketing Tycoon

**ChickenHole** · 01-22-2007, 08:14 PM

Looks like mySpace finally got it together to officially launch a lawsuit.

Quote:

The lawsuit was filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles and asks for damages, an injunction preventing Richter and his companies from accessing MySpace, and repayment of all profits gained as a result of the activity.

they are specifically going after Scott Richter, CEO of CPAEmpire, as he is a previously convicted spammer and self proclaimed 'Spam King'.

I guess all the mySpace marketers will need to find a new place to send traffic... Looks like scott will need a few bucks to cover the costs of the lawsuit.

No surprise here though, this case has been a long time coming.

- Phishers are the most damaging/frustrating of mySpace marketers to mySpace itself and especially to mySpace users who get their accts hit

- Scott is an easy target with previous spam issues with CAN-SPAM and Eliot Spitzer... So let's pick on him.

- CPAEmpire was a favored network for phishers

**ChickenHole** · 01-22-2007, 08:19 PM

Doh - a url would help....
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercu...a/16520570.htm

If anyone could dig up a link to the ACTUAL court docs or an ACTUAL PR from mySpace/newscorp i'd love to see it. 100 articles written about it today, but they all regurgetate the same things.

**Moelman** · 01-22-2007, 08:33 PM

I'm glad myspace is finally doing something about phishing. First of all i'm sick of seeing spam bulletins on my personal account (not posted by my account, by my friends) and it's just not right that people phish others' passwords and abuse their accounts.

**Calalily217** · 01-23-2007, 01:49 AM

i dont know why they would do this, but someone phished my cousin's acct. she's 12!!! (well 14

) they were sending out bulletins about webcam shows, girl on girl porn, and ***** enlargement pills. all of her friends were her school friends (also 12). so she got in trouble because the parents that monitor their kids myspace pages saw it in their kids bulletins. thats a little bit ridiculous. :gunsmilie:

**imported_fryman** · 01-23-2007, 02:54 AM

I hope they hang that f*cking spammer by the balls.

**Nick204k** · 01-23-2007, 10:58 AM

hmm so cpaempire is getting sued?

**ChickenHole** · 01-23-2007, 02:35 PM

The suit is specifically against Scott Richter - CEO of CPAEmpire - Operating as MediaBreakAway Ltc. formerly OptinRealBig.

I have heard word that other networks are named in the suit. But beleive that to be BS - as it is written no where and all the Networks execs I have spoken with have heard nothing from any sort of legal entity, with the exception of CPAEmpire.

Again... wish i knew how to dig up the actual filing.

**Nick204k** · 01-23-2007, 04:36 PM

This cant be good... CPAEmpire is the only CPA network i like so far.

**Calalily217** · 01-23-2007, 05:08 PM

"The lawsuit, filed yesterday in the Central District of California, claims Richter-run operations OptInRealBig.com, CPA Empire.com, and Media Breakaway arranged for millions of MySpace bulletins to be sent through its system between July and December of last year. MySpace bulletins are messages sent from one user to all users in her friends list. A Media Breakaway spokesperson told ClickZ News the firm had no comment regarding the case. "

The whole article is here.... http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3624642 .

**Nick204k** · 01-23-2007, 09:41 PM

This isnt going to effect cpaempire publishers do you think? like maybe CPAE shutdown?

**imported_dkextbmx** · 01-24-2007, 06:18 AM

CPAEmpire is being sued for 75 million. Also they are not the only ones being sued..that is for sure!

As for the way they will be effected. Most likly they will go bankrupt if they lose the suit. They will then slowly reform... The owner is not the only one to follow these practices. If you look up some of the top spammers in the world, you will see most have been sued for millions before and still continue their ways.

You ask why? Because they arent losing all their money. There are several ways to protect your company's assets (money). As long as the internet grows, there will always be the place for a smart, experienced spammer to make good money. You have to figure that they are also experienced with high class law suits and protecting their money through international business, and off short banking.

**Ganceann** · 01-24-2007, 12:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fryman

I hope they hang that f*cking spammer by the balls.

Very strong words. However, this would apply to ALL MySpace bulleting marketing people... so anyone using tools such as Adderbot etc would all be violating the CanSpam act and effectively be legally responsible for paying MySpace any damages.

The reason bulletin marketing would fall foul of the can spam act is that people do not opt in to receive such material from 'artificial people' but from people they believe to be friends. However, dummy MySpace accounts are 'artificial' and created with the sole purpose of sending bullentins to long lists of friends - not what the people have opted to receive.

Obviously I do not know all the legal implications, however, the way the law works in many cases is not common sense and it will surely at some point bring all people 'abusing' the bulletin feature into a situation where they accept legal responsibility if they mis-use it for marketing purposes.

Overall, this Lawsuit against CPAEmpire could be the first major test case about myspace bulletin marketing and many other lawsuits could follow - specifically targeting them as phishing/spam cases.

**thewupk** · 01-24-2007, 12:51 PM

But then again why are people adding friend requests when they do not know who they are. And if they are tired of those bulletins then they can simply remove them as a friend and they would no longer receive them. Totally different then the phishing accounts deal that has been going on. But just from a straight bulletin marketing stand point, it should fall on the owner of said account. If they don't want to get that then remove them as a friend.

**xharrisonx** · 01-24-2007, 01:30 PM

poor cpaempire, they just pay the affiliates. they have NOTHING to do with the actual spamming of myspace. That must have made all the affiliate reps at ASW feel like ****!

**ChickenHole** · 01-24-2007, 03:01 PM

Well, as with any big story, there are a lot of unfounded rumours flying about. Let's dispell a few shall we...

20-50 networks sued, affiliates as well.

Quote:

CPAEmpire is being sued for 75 million. Also they are not the only ones being sued..that is for sure!

just because someone 'said' it doesn't make it true. I assume you read that on Shoe's blog and what Jon is spouting on Wicked fire because of the numbers you are quoting.
Shoe and Jon are smart guys. I love them both. THEY also love links and attention, I mean smoochie smoochie behind the bushes looooove links and attention. BUT they are also smart.
Shoe says:
"Scott Richter is telling people here at Affiliate Summit"
Shoe himself is saying nothing is or isn't true, Scott naturally has many reasons to say all sorts of things at this point.
I have spoken to many network execs and am one myself. NONE of them have received anything.
You will also note that Jon quickly withdrew what he was saying.
"Removed the list. Too many what if's. Wouldn't be fair to the networks that I originally mentioned without seeing their lawsuit files. Will post the list again when everything is confirmed, in writing."

They are after Scott Richter for Bulletin Spamming
No. They are suing Scott for allegedly being complicate with and participating in Phishing schemes. I don't know what evidence they have to prove that, but good luck to them. Bulletin spamming is what they alleged happened with these phished accounts. But making use of phished accts is where they appear to be laying their cards.

That the CAN-SPAM act is being violated by anyone here.
mySpace is trying to use the CAN-SPAM act to prosecute Scott. I laugh heartily at that. The CAN-SPAM act is very specifically about unsolicited email marketing. The best thing that could come out of this is that the act is expanded to include these sorts of actions. Phishing is a big problem on the net, causing identity theft etc etc. Phishing needs to be addressed by the courts. Maybe this will help bring that about. But I reeeeally doubt Scott will get trouble. I mean they have to prove that HE did the phishing and that harm was caused by it. We are talking about mySpace logins... not bank, VISA and paypal accts. mySpace is drawing at straws on this one. Good luck to them... will probably get thrown out before it even hits the courts.

People using adder bots etc to promote their business, offers or otherwise are next.
mySpace is desperate for a target that makes them look good and is an easy win. Scott is that... an easy target. He has had previous run ins and is a known alledged spammer. CPAEmpire has deep pockets and could pay a big fine. Ipod and Polo shirt offers are harmless on the surface. People like to rally around lynching a 'spammer'.
If they REALLY wanted to stop spam they should:
Fix their crappy code
Start policing the profiles and content better.
The first step for anyone is a Cease and Desist order. If they are after YOU you'll get one of those first.

If they want to catch a bad guy, they should go after the BAD GUYS!
mySpace is FULL of ads for porn, webcams, phishing scams for paypal accts, worms and redirects that load computers with spyware/malware and create zombie networks. THOSE are the bad guys! Inundating 14 yr old kids with ads for Granny Porn and Viagra. But... that doesn't make a great headline does it?

"MySpace full of porn and spyware... They finally making futile attempt at slowing the flood."
hmmmm... maybe i won't let my 16yr old daughter visit that site anymore... sounds like a bad place.
But really THAT is the worst problem, the problem we all want to see go away.
Instead we have:
"MySpace Brings Suit to Stop Spam"
and
''MySpace sues Spam King"
much easier to get behind that...

now.. all that being said. I am NOT saying that it is ok to spam mySpace or anyone/thing else. I am just dispelling some rampant misinformation. PPL in this industry love to be Chicken Littles. And love to act like they are 'in the know'. Others like to wait until the facts are in. And they have only just begun to come in. This will be a loooong process.

**timtim2500** · 01-24-2007, 05:58 PM

So we are looking into one more spammer down...?
Anyone else

Tim

**Bmc** · 01-24-2007, 06:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChickenHole

Well, as with any big story, there are a lot of unfounded rumours flying about. Let's dispell a few shall we...

20-50 networks sued, affiliates as well.

just because someone 'said' it doesn't make it true. I assume you read that on Shoe's blog and what Jon is spouting on Wicked fire because of the numbers you are quoting.
Shoe and Jon are smart guys. I love them both. THEY also love links and attention, I mean smoochie smoochie behind the bushes looooove links and attention. BUT they are also smart.
Shoe says:
"Scott Richter is telling people here at Affiliate Summit"
Shoe himself is saying nothing is or isn't true, Scott naturally has many reasons to say all sorts of things at this point.
I have spoken to many network execs and am one myself. NONE of them have received anything.
You will also note that Jon quickly withdrew what he was saying.
"Removed the list. Too many what if's. Wouldn't be fair to the networks that I originally mentioned without seeing their lawsuit files. Will post the list again when everything is confirmed, in writing."

They are after Scott Richter for Bulletin Spamming
No. They are suing Scott for allegedly being complicate with and participating in Phishing schemes. I don't know what evidence they have to prove that, but good luck to them. Bulletin spamming is what they alleged happened with these phished accounts. But making use of phished accts is where they appear to be laying their cards.

That the CAN-SPAM act is being violated by anyone here.
mySpace is trying to use the CAN-SPAM act to prosecute Scott. I laugh heartily at that. The CAN-SPAM act is very specifically about unsolicited email marketing. The best thing that could come out of this is that the act is expanded to include these sorts of actions. Phishing is a big problem on the net, causing identity theft etc etc. Phishing needs to be addressed by the courts. Maybe this will help bring that about. But I reeeeally doubt Scott will get trouble. I mean they have to prove that HE did the phishing and that harm was caused by it. We are talking about mySpace logins... not bank, VISA and paypal accts. mySpace is drawing at straws on this one. Good luck to them... will probably get thrown out before it even hits the courts.

People using adder bots etc to promote their business, offers or otherwise are next.
mySpace is desperate for a target that makes them look good and is an easy win. Scott is that... an easy target. He has had previous run ins and is a known alledged spammer. CPAEmpire has deep pockets and could pay a big fine. Ipod and Polo shirt offers are harmless on the surface. People like to rally around lynching a 'spammer'.
If they REALLY wanted to stop spam they should:
Fix their crappy code
Start policing the profiles and content better.
The first step for anyone is a Cease and Desist order. If they are after YOU you'll get one of those first.

If they want to catch a bad guy, they should go after the BAD GUYS!
mySpace is FULL of ads for porn, webcams, phishing scams for paypal accts, worms and redirects that load computers with spyware/malware and create zombie networks. THOSE are the bad guys! Inundating 14 yr old kids with ads for Granny Porn and Viagra. But... that doesn't make a great headline does it?

"MySpace full of porn and spyware... They finally making futile attempt at slowing the flood."
hmmmm... maybe i won't let my 16yr old daughter visit that site anymore... sounds like a bad place.
But really THAT is the worst problem, the problem we all want to see go away.
Instead we have:
"MySpace Brings Suit to Stop Spam"
and
''MySpace sues Spam King"
much easier to get behind that...

now.. all that being said. I am NOT saying that it is ok to spam mySpace or anyone/thing else. I am just dispelling some rampant misinformation. PPL in this industry love to be Chicken Littles. And love to act like they are 'in the know'. Others like to wait until the facts are in. And they have only just begun to come in. This will be a loooong process.

May I just say.. Thank you. :yes:

**GMG0621** · 01-24-2007, 06:16 PM

I got this info from another forum that I am part of. When people say that their may be others that might be in line for a lawsuit from Myspace a list has came up. Don't know how true this list could be, but I know personally, I know most of these are true, real CPA websites.

[clipped for now]

**chemoul** · 01-24-2007, 06:18 PM

are they actually sueing Scott as a person or CPAEmpire as a company?

**ChickenHole** · 01-24-2007, 09:52 PM

They are suing Scott as a person and his affiliated companies.

that list you are quoting was posted by Jon at Wicked fire and QUICKLY pulled by him. I suggest you edit your post and do the same GMG0621, or you may find yourself in a sticky situation with those networks. Seriously...

Lee - you may want to edit it to protect yourself.