Here's another article about folks who post "insider" info and bash their own employers on the boards. Although the SEC is not involved, the courts are...
April 5, 1999
Tech Center
Raytheon Employees Resign in Wake
Of Lawsuit Protesting Internet
Postings
By WILLIAM M. BULKELEY
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
In a case that has highlighted issues of online privacy, at
least two Raytheon Co. employees who posted anonymous
messages about the company on an Internet message board
have resigned, say people familiar with the matter.
Raytheon filed a lawsuit in February against 21 employees,
claiming they had posted "proprietary and confidential
information" about the big defense contractor via Yahoo!
Inc., whose widely used Web pages include many
company-specific electronic message boards. The suit, filed
in Massachusetts Superior Court in Cambridge, identified
the 21 by their Internet pseudonyms, such as
"Raytheonveteran," "Ditchraytheon" and "Rayman-Mass."
Since filing the suit, Raytheon has been seeking the identities
of employees through subpoenas to Yahoo. Yahoo says it has
been complying with those subpoenas.
On Friday, a person familiar with the case confirmed that
Mark Neuhausen, a vice president in Raytheon's Arlington,
Va., office, resigned last week. Mr. Neuhausen posted
messages under "RSC Deepthroat," one of the names cited in
the lawsuit, this person said. Mr. Neuhausen and his lawyer,
Roger Ampole, didn't return phone calls. Mr. Neuhausen's
resignation was reported in the Boston Herald.
Also last week, another person accused in the suit, who uses
the name "Winstoncar," said in a posting on a Yahoo
message board that he had left Raytheon. He couldn't be
reached for comment and he didn't disclose his identity. In
his posting he wrote, "All I can say is, as of today, I no
longer work for Raytheon. Details of course cannot be
released."
The message board, used by employees and investors,
includes gossip and criticism by anonymous participants.
Raytheon claims in its suit that the board also contained
sensitive and confidential information such as bid proposals,
unreleased financial data and pending company divestitures.
The postings aren't always reliable. One said Raytheon
would win a missile contract, when the job actually went to
Boeing Co. Another claimed Raytheon would miss analysts'
fourth-quarter 1998 earnings target of $1.08 a share, when
the company actually met that goal.
Electronic privacy experts say businesses have a right to
protect trade secrets and confidential information, but there
is the danger that some companies might file suits just to
quell negative statements. "It certainly can have a chilling
effect," said Esther Dyson, editor of a trade newsletter and
former chair of the Electronic Freedom Foundation. "But if
it's true that they divulged proprietary information, then
Raytheon has a legitimate complaint."
Phyllis Piano, Raytheon's vice president of corporate
communications, said: "We've tried to convey something to
employees. We encourage people to air their views. But they
can't cross the line and divulge proprietary information."
A Yahoo spokeswoman said it is company policy to comply
with subpoenas and court orders, but she declined to say
how many of the Raytheon employees the company had been
able to identify.
To users, Yahoo postings seem anonymous, since Yahoo!
doesn't require users to register by name, and it provides the
message boards free. It often doesn't know who its users are.
However, under court order it provides information on the
Internet-service provider used by people who post
messages, and subsequent subpoenas to them can usually
pinpoint the authors, Internet-savvy lawyers say.
From Interactive WSJ |
