interactive.wsj.com
October 27, 2000
Settlements Reached in Suits
Involving Stock-Chat Rooms
By a WALL STREET JOURNAL Staff Reporter
LOS ANGELES -- Two related, high-profile lawsuits involving Internet
stock-chat criticism have been settled with both sides claiming victory.
One suit was filed in San Francisco federal court by ZiaSun Technologies
Inc. against a group of Internet stock-message board critics. The Internet
company alleged in its suit that its online critics had engaged in a
"cybersmear campaign." A related suit against the same individuals was filed
by Bryant Cragun, former ZiaSun chief executive, in a California state court
in San Diego.
The two suits attracted attention early this year
when ZiaSun, Solana Beach, Calif., and Mr.
Cragun obtained federal and state court orders
restricting the ability of one of the defendants, a
Rochelle Park, N.J., mortgage banker named
Floyd Schneider, to post messages about them.
The plaintiffs said these were the first such
orders in the nation against an Internet stock
poster. Additionally, Mr. Schneider was
ordered to retract some previously posted
statements that he had made about ZiaSun and
Mr. Cragun. Mr. Schneider complied but in subsequent interviews said he
believed all his statements had been accurate.
ZiaSun and Mr. Cragun also were prominent figures in a recent front-page
Wall Street Journal story concerning an overseas stock-selling network that
marketed shares in small U.S. companies to foreign investors. Mr. Cragun
was chairman of one of the firms involved in the selling network.
Under the settlement of the two lawsuits, Mr. Schneider and three other
defendants agreed to stop posting any messages about ZiaSun, Mr. Cragun
and a number of related individuals and companies. Each side agreed to pay
its own legal costs.
Mr. Cragun paid one of the defendants $60,000 to satisfy a claim against
another one of the firms in the overseas selling network. In a statement, Mr.
Cragun said he made the payment simply to help settle the overall dispute
and that he will seek to recover that money from the firm in court. |
