In this particular case, it's true. According to Section 7704(b)(1)(A)(i) [0] harvesting emails is considered an aggravated violation of the CAN-SPAM act and is

In this particular case, it's true. According to Section 7704(b)(1)(A)(i) [0] harvesting emails is considered an aggravated violation of the CAN-SPAM act and is subject to triple the statutory fines per section 7706(2)(f)(3)(C). The normal statutory fines are up to $250 per violation per section 7706(2)(f)(3)(A). Doing the math, 28000 * $250 is $7,000,000. Fortunately, according to 7706(2)(f)(3)(B) this is capped at $2,000,000. However, this is prior to triple damages taking effect for aggravated violations of section 7704. This means that those 28,000 emails (should one be foolish enough to email them) carry a CAN-SPAM penalty of up to $6,000,000. Or about $214 per email address. I hope it's worth it. [0] http://uscode.house.gov/download/pls/15C103.txt http://uscode.house.gov/download/pls/15C103.txt