A Montreal man who spammed millions of Facebook users has been handed a disproportionate $1-billion punishment that favours a vengeful corporation, his lawyer said Wednesday.

Two years ago, a California court ruled that Montreal resident Adam Guerbuez had to pay US$873.3 million to Facebook for violating U.S. anti-spam laws.

Converted to Canadian dollars at the November 2008 exchange rate, that works out to damages of more than $1 billion.

Facebook then went to the Quebec Superior Court and asked it to uphold the U.S. verdict, which it did last week.

In its case against Guerbuez, Facebook alleged the Canadian tricked its users into providing him with their usernames and passwords. Then, in March and April of 2008, computer programs sent more than 4 million messages to Facebook accounts promoting products that included marijuana, erectile dysfunction and penis enlargement products.

But lawyer Eric Potvin said the punishment handed down to his client is excessive.

The fine "has no proportion with any of the loss or the profits sustained," Potvin told CTV's Canada AM during an interview from Montreal on Wednesday morning.

When the Quebec Superior Court upheld the judgment on Tuesday, Justice Lucie Fournier said that Guerbuez can no longer have a Facebook account or any contact with the popular social-networking site.

Guerbuez, who claims to have never admitted to sending the messages, considers himself a marketer and may even benefit from the situation he has found himself in, his lawyer said.

"I believe that this whole situation is definitely a plus for him as far as the marketing goes," Potvin said.

On his online Twitter account, Guerbuez describes himself as "The 873 Million Dollar Man."

There is some question as to whether Guerbuez can be compelled to pay any portion of the damages as he has filed for bankruptcy.

In an interview on Tuesday, Guerbuez told The Canadian Press that he doesn't have to pay damages because he is bankrupt.

"I officially declared bankruptcy and it was filed and put into effect over two months ago. This judgment was already deposed as part of the bankruptcy," he said in an interview.

Potvin said his client is entitled "to avail himself of the bankruptcy laws given that there is no way that he could ever repay a judgment of that magnitude."

With files from The Associated Press and The Canadian Press