Re: 1/2/01 - [CSFB] Dow Jones: CSFB Settles 'Cybersmear' Suit Against Online Posters
January 2, 2001
Dow Jones Newswires
CSFB Settles 'Cybersmear' Suit Against Online Posters
By COLLEEN DEBAISE
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
NEW YORK -- Credit Suisse First Boston Corp. (Z.CSF) has settled a "cybersmear" lawsuit against a retired New Jersey scientist and several others who posted online messages that the firm said undermined its credibility, according to court records.
CSFB dropped the suit after the scientist, Chuan C. Chang, agreed not to make any false, defamatory statements about CSFB in the future. Chang isn't required to make any payment to CSFB, although the firm originally sought $1 million in damages.
CSFB claimed in the suit that Chang posted libelous messages on Yahoo! Inc.'s (YHOO) message board about a CSFB analyst who covers Elan Corp. (ELN), an Irish drug company.
The firm claimed that Chang and the others posted messages in which they accused CSFB analyst David Maris of being a liar and a stock manipulator shortly after he issued a negative report on Elan in February.
Chang agreed to the terms of the settlement while continuing to defend his postings as constitutionally protected opinion.
Settlement papers filed in Manhattan federal court note that CSFB continues to refute Chang's statements but that the firm "has no desire to chill fair and open discussion of the company and its analysts."
CSFB declined to comment on the case. Chang and three message board posters have signed settlement papers, although the suit is still pending against several other defendants. Similar settlements are expected soon in the case.
Robert Balin, Chang's attorney, said he is pleased with the outcome of the suit. "Far from stifling people, this should give them some comfort that they can engage in vigorous discussion and opinion," he said.
His law firm, Davis Wright Tremaine in New York, had represented Chang and three others "pro bono," or without compensation. "There's been a proliferation of these lawsuits," Balin said. "Large institutions sometimes may be too liberal with their use of libel suits to quiet what they deem to be unwarranted criticism."
The settlements also were applauded in messages on Yahoo's message board, where defendants in the case had been dubbed "The Elan 11." One poster wrote, "It is a crying shame that your lives were intruded on like that ... please come back."
-By Colleen DeBaise, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-227-2017; colleen.debaise@dowjones.com |
