This section contains the nature of the case and procedural background.

D operated a social networking website, Power.com. Individuals who already used other social networking websites could log on to Power.com and create an account. Power.com would then aggregate the user's social networking information. The individual, a 'Power user,' could see all contacts from many social networking sites on a single page. The Power user thus could keep track of a variety of social networking friends through a single program and could click through the central Power website to individual social networking sites. By 2008, the website had attracted a growing following. P also operates a social networking website. P users, who numbered more than 130 million during D's promotional campaign, can create a personal profile-a web page within the site-and can connect with other users. P requires each user to register before accessing the website and requires that each user assent to its terms of use. A registered Facebook user can create and customize her profile by adding personal information, photographs, or other content. A user can establish connections with other Facebook users by 'friending' them; the connected users are thus called 'friends.' A non-Facebook user generally may not use the website to send messages, post photographs, or otherwise contact Facebook users through their profiles. P requires third-party developers or websites that wish to contact its users through its site to enroll in a program called Facebook Connect. It requires these third parties to register with P and to agree to an additional Developer Terms of Use Agreement. D ran a promotional campaign to get P users to join its site: 'First 100 people who bring 100 new friends to Power.com win $100.' The user could 'Share with friends through my photos,' 'Share with friends through events,' or 'Share with friends through status.' A button on the icon included the words 'Yes, I do!' If a user clicked the 'Yes, I do!' button, D would create an event, photo, or status on the user's Facebook profile. D caused a message to be transmitted to the user's friends within the P system. In other instances, depending on a P user's settings, P generated an e-mail message. The external e-mails were form e-mails, generated each time a P user invited others to an event. The 'from' line in the e-mail stated that the message came from Facebook; the body was signed, 'The Facebook Team.' On December 1, 2008, P sent a 'cease and desist' letter instructing D to terminate its activities. P tried to get D to sign its Developer Terms of Use Agreement and enroll in Facebook Connect; D resisted. P then blocked D's IP address, and D immediately switched its address multiple times. D continued its promotion even though it acknowledged that it took, copied, or made use of data from P without P's permission. D filed this action. Toward the end of January 2009, Power ended its campaign. In April 2011, D ceased doing business altogether. In total, more than 60,000 external e-mails promoting D were sent through P. An unknown number of internal P messages were also transmitted. P alleged violations of the CFAA, the CAN-SPAM Act, and California Penal Code section 502, and moved for summary judgment. The district court granted summary judgment on all three claims. The district court awarded statutory damages of $3,031,350, compensatory damages, and permanent injunctive relief, and it held that Vachani (D) was personally liable for D's actions. Ds appealed.

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