Robert Kramer, of CIS Internet Services, Iowa, took action against 300 spammers in 2003, after he was forced to upgrade his servers in 2000 to cope with a deluge of up to 10 million spam e-mails per day.
Three of the 300 defendants, AMP Dollar Savings Inc. of Arizona, and Cash Link Systems Inc. and TEI Marketing Group of Florida, were found guilty by default on Friday by Judge Charles Wolle, after neither the defendants nor their agents turned up for trial in November.
The case continues against the remaining spammers.
According to the Associated Press, AMP Dollar Savings has been fined $720 million, Cash Link Systems, £360 million, and TEI Marketing £140,000, under state legislation that allows the court to fine spammers $10 per e-mail.
The court then tripled the damages using provisions of the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Statute, known as RICO.
But the record breaking fine is unlikely to be paid. According to reports, Kramer is hoping simply to recoup his legal costs.