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I have never read the legal definitions for what constitutes spam and their associated penalties but from what I've read recently spam e-mail has increased. Given that these aff networks have so many clients working through more legitimate venues I have a feeling MySpace may have a hard time trying to get $20 million+ for spam unless the companies were stupid enough to have documented policies against punishing/encouraging spammers. If they didnt at least take measures to give the social spammers a slap on the wrist and new affiliate ID then maybe they deserve the penalty.
I imagine a settlement + agreement to improve cooperation in the future will be the likely result. Smart policy might be to close an account that is complained about for spam, set dead aff Ids to act as a corporate affiliate for any deals resulting from the defunct IDs, and leave re-registration available so that the best will return. Spam affiliates would be forced to improve their tactics, stop altogether, or generate a large $ bonus for the aff network (who takes over their dead IDs) in the process. By shutting down the account, I mean to also pay the affs their balance and not hoarde it all or the system ends without the repeated gains.
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