SLSUSMA, note the line in the WSJ article that says:
The online-trading firm, whose stock plunged 75% last year from its March high, asserts that anonymous posters used pseudonyms to "mislead the public into believing that" Mr. Cotsakos "posted the messages" -- all in a bid to drive down E*Trade's stock.
Checking Yahoo insider trades we see that Cotsakos, from March 2000 on, realized paper gains totaling more than $16 million. Add in other companies and the total swells to more than $20 million. For example:
2-Aug-00 - Paper gain of $254,407 at a fair market value of $13.94/share on 2-Aug-00.
7-Jul-00 - Paper gain of $578,835 at a fair market value of $15.81/share on 7-Jul-00.
24-May-00 - Paper gain of $254,407 at a fair market value of $13.94/share on 24-May-00.
24-May-00 - Paper gain of $391,297 at a fair market value of $13.94/share on 24-May-00.
24-May-00 - Paper gain of $2,149,749 at a fair market value of $13.94/share on 24-May-00.
24-May-00 - Paper gain of $13,010,787 at a fair market value of $13.94/share on 24-May-00.
biz.yahoo.com
I don't know the particulars of the suit, but seems to me it would have been quite easy for someone with the stature of Mr. Cotsakos to have called Yahoo and said he wasn't posting and wanted the account of the person using his name to be deleted. If Yahoo, who can do whatever they please on their own message boards, deemed that the imposter might actually be mistaken for the real person, then I see no problem with them removing the account. Had the account been opened in the name of, say, "Cotsakos_Sucks", then I'd say Yahoo should just leave it be since there would be no confusion (to a reasonable person) the account holder was not actually Cotsakos.
As I recall, the actual law on these things is based on "confusion in the marketplace" or something similar. Had the suit gone to trial, it would have been interesting to see if someone posting "obvious" parodies on a chat board under the name of a real person might be protected as, say, a celebrity impersonator would be on Letterman or Leno.
- Jeff |
