On January 8, 2015, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California entered a default judgment and a permanent injunction against an individual accused of creating more than seventy accounts after Facebook sent cease and desist letters to him. Facebook, Inc. v. Grunin, 2015 BL 3625, N.D. Cal., No. 3:14-cv-02323-WHA, 1/8/15.

The Court found that defendant:

(1) “breached Facebook’s Terms [of Use] by placing ads containing sexually provocative content, running deceptive ads, transferring accounts without Facebook’s permission, providing false information to Facebook, continuing to access Facebook after revocation, and failing to pay for advertisements” (Id. at *5);

(2) fraudulently “provided Facebook false information so that he could obtain advertising accounts” causing “Facebook to provide at least $340,000 in unpaid ads” (Id. at *6); and

(3) violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, Act, 18 U.S.C. 1030, et seq. and the California Comprehensive Computer Data Access and Fraud Act, California Penal Code Section 502, by intentionally circumventing Facebook’s technical measures to disable his access “by impersonating others to obtain Facebook accounts to run ads” (Id. at *8).

The defendant was enjoined from accessing or using any Facebook website or service. The Court ordered further briefing on claimed damages and fees, and that a copy of its order be forwarded to the United States Attorney for possible investigation.