I'm not an expert on the subject...but, wouldn't it be more effective if we just used a firing squad for spammers instead of fines? Just sayin'.
"Last summer, federal regulators charged the operators of an alleged spam scam of hijacking hacked email accounts to spread the word about a slew of unproven weight-loss products. Now, the three affiliate marketers have agreed to pay $500,000 to put the case behind them."