ITEX CORPORATION v. JOHN DOES 1 THROUGH 100
In September, 1998, Itex Corporation, a company which describes itself as an "internet-based financial services and trading company" filed a lawsuit against 100 message posters on Yahoo! Inc.'s public message boards, alleging conspiracy, business interference, and defamation. The only problem is, the plaintiff didn't know who to sue, so it filed its complaint against "100 John Does". Itex Corporation is also the parent company of BXI Corporation and the Itex Trade Exchange.
The lawsuit quickly caught the attention of the Portland Oregonian, Dow Jones News, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, New York Times, and other nationally distributed publications. Itex stated that the lawsuit was necessary to prevent further disparaging comments to be made about the company. The posters say it is a First Amendment Rights issue.
Answer and Cross-complaint of Defendant Les L. French 8/26/99. Html format. Has the "100 John Does" lasuit backfired on the plaintiffs?
Second Amended Complaint, filed by Itex 1/5/99. (Adobe PDF Format) Was later stricken on Defendant French's Rule 21 Motions.
Dow Jones News Article. A reporter from DJ prior to publication appeared on the Yahoo message board requesting interviews.
Portland Oregonian Article 9/3/99. It is commonly believed that reporters from the Oregonian first uncovered details of the "100 John Does" lawsuit and "broke the story", which otherwise the suit would have been quietly filed by Itex with no announcement or other public notice, thus giving Itex unlimited discovery against unknown persons, some of whom were not even alleged in the lawsuit.
Associated Press article dated 9/4/98.
The Yahoo! Message Board for Itex, messages 1 through 350 (zipped html files, 896k). These messages are in HTML page format and must be unzipped before viewing using a web browser program.
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