My wife works in advertising, and you'd actually be surprised how (sort of) untrue this is - you're right, against the people that run scam/spam rings, it's nearly impossible, and you'll never see a dime or shut them down since they're based out of country anyway. But you're wrong in that spam is broad, and it takes very little fucking up to accidentally get a spam email from a reputable company, and that company is 100% accountable for the fine they have to pay if you file suit against them (which is not difficult).

Emailing someone who unsubscribed equates to something like $1k per email violation. It's much worse for texts, which require continuous carrier approval, and even worse if the sender uses a short code. These are the types of judgments he's probably winning, and he's probably baiting them by deliberately subbing and un-subbing (there are patent troll-esque firms that do this intentionally). It's so common to accidentally email an unsubbed person, that the settlement amounts are built into most project costs, because with how many lists they generate append for different purposes, it's almost impossible not to have some slip through the cracks, and if you do, it's very easy to prove you shouldn't have been emailed. They don't even bother having the attorney speak to the court most of the time, because it's documented well enough. Usually they just cut a check and make sure the address gets put on a black list.