Crandell: Is this one of the articles you were referring to(regarding inability to pay)?
(Page C-1 )
ZiaSun critic told to halt Net smears
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Bruce V. Bigelow
STAFF WRITER
09-Feb-2000 Wednesday
A San Diego judge has ordered a self-styled stock critic to stop posting
critical messages about a Solana Beach investor in an Internet
"cybersmearing" case that is gaining widespread attention.
Lawsuits filed to halt the so-called stock bashers have raised questions
about free speech on the Internet and prompted news accounts about the
issue.
The temporary order prohibits Floyd D. Schneider of Saddle River, N.J.,
from stating or suggesting that Bryant Cragun of Solana Beach is dishonest,
disreputable or a criminal.
Cragun, an investor and stock promoter, sued Schneider last year as part of
a bid to douse an Internet flame war that has been raging over ZiaSun
Technologies, an obscure holding company backed by Cragun.
The Jan. 31 order by Superior Court Judge Janis Sammartino also required
Schneider to publish a retraction of several press releases he issued on
the Internet, which announced "a strong sell recommendation" on ZiaSun.
According to the court's order, which was uncontested, Schneider's sell
recommendation "was not based on an objective analysis of ZiaSun's stock
and value."
The order also says that "derogatory statements made regarding Bryant
Cragun, ZiaSun, and the officers, directors and employees of ZiaSun were
false or implied false facts."
Cragun's lawyer, Daniel Pascucci, alleged that Schneider is a part of a
group of eight Internet users who are working in a conspiracy with short
sellers to drive down the price of ZiaSun shares.
"You can't say whatever you want to on the Internet or anywhere else,"
Pascucci said. "It's kind of like yelling `Fire!' in a theater, and then
charging an exit fee when people panic and are running for the exits."
Using aliases such as "truthseeker" and "Auric Goldfinger," members of the
"ZiaSun 8" have posted thousands of taunting, scornful messages about
ZiaSun in Internet stock chat forums.
Some of the messages mock ZiaSun's financial statements, detail the
company's ties to Asian brokerage houses and reveal ZiaSun's prior
incarnations as BestWay and Carlisle Enterprises.
Pascucci says the "ZiaSun 8" -- and Schneider in particular -- have posted
defamatory statements about ZiaSun and Cragun, falsely claiming that the
company is under investigation and Cragun is a criminal.
In response to a reporter's question, Pascucci acknowledged that Cragun was
the subject of an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission
that lasted for years. But no charges were filed, and Pascucci said
emphatically that Cragun is not a criminal.
Schneider denied that he has been working with short sellers, or that he
has worked closely with Amr "Tony" Elgindy, identified in Cragun's lawsuit
as a Nasdaq short seller.
"I do mortgages for a living," said Schneider, a regional vice president
with Real Estate Mortgage Network. "And I do investigative reports on
companies -- and I'm very good at it."
Schneider said he publishes his investigations on his own Internet Web
site, thetruthseeker.com, including reports he prepared on USA Talks and
2TheMart.com.
Schneider said he has not contested Cragun's lawsuit because he can't
afford it.
ZiaSun, which trades over the counter, represents itself as an Internet
company that operates at least nine business units focused on e-commerce
and specialized online support service.
The Solana Beach company recently obtained a separate order from a U.S.
District Court in Seattle, which prohibits Schneider from publishing "false
statements" about ZiaSun.
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Copyright Union-Tribune Publishing Co. |
