OT: Wi-LAN goes for mouthpiece v. mouthpiece
Wi-LAN Inc WIN
Shares issued 30,734,163 Sep 9 2002 close $ 1.23
Monday September 9 2002 Street Wire
by Brent Mudry
While many high technology companies ignore Internet chat-site hecklers and detractors, Wi-LAN has taken one StockHouse BullBoards poster quite seriously, launching a cybersmear suit against a fellow called John Doe, address unknown. In a detailed 17-page statement of claim filed Aug. 20 in the Supreme Court of British Columbia, Wi-LAN seeks unspecified general, special, aggravated and punitive damages against Mr. Doe, who uses the pseudonym "Engineersupreme."
The allegations in the cybersmear suit, filed by Vancouver lawyer Barry Fraser of McCarthy Tetrault, have not yet been proven in court and Mr. Doe has not yet filed a statement of defence. StockHouse Media Corp. is not a party to the suit.
In the suit, Mr. Fraser, who represents several misunderstood corporate bigwigs and smallwigs, claims Mr. Doe has been saying unpleasant things about his client Wi-LAN and its president Hatim Zaghloul since at least Nov. 9, 2001. After enduring the slings and arrows of the StockHouse heckler for almost nine months, the last straw came on June 26, when Engineersupreme made serious allegations in a post bragging about how he made money shorting Wi-LAN.
"Thanks from the Morons. We are making money. I agree that the stock is being manipulated. WIN is manipulating you to make you think there is value with the company," states the post. While the anonymous poster offered no evidence for these serious allegations, such chatter litters many chat-sites, and most readers hardly take such rants seriously.
In January of last year, the British Columbia and Ontario securities commissions issued a warning bulletin advising investors to pay little attention to chat-site postings.
The Canadian advisory echoed outgoing United States Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Arthur Levitt's comments in an article in the New York Times, in which he dismissed most chat-site comments as just graffiti.
"It's nothing different than what you see on a bathroom wall. And if you are dumb enough to invest based on a lavatory wall, then you deserve to lose money," stated Mr. Levitt. While the SEC, the BCSC and the OSC discourage investors from taking chat-sites too seriously, Wi-LAN, Mr. Zaghloul and their lawyer Mr. Fraser have taken Wi-LAN's pesky detractor Mr. Doe very seriously.
The suit also claims Mr. Doe, in a bid to bolster his chat-room credibility, has challenged Wi-LAN to sue him and flush him out from StockHouse. Mr. Fraser notes one such posting, dated Dec. 30.
"I invite a legal challenge. Do you not understand the rules of evidence? I would love to go to discoveries with WiLan. I would love to cross examine the principles (sic) of WiLan. I have initiated several suits against Public companies, and I have been successful. I have stopped several Pubco's from raising additional funds," stated Engineersupreme.
"WiLan, Please sue me. Please demand records from Stockhouse. Please serve me with an injunction. I am retired. I have several businesses in Canada and the United States."
In the suit, lawyer Mr. Fraser claims Mr. Doe's BullBoards rants were "malicious, irresponsible and untrue, and were designed to damage and discredit the Plaintiff's reputation and were published by the Defendant knowing the statements to be untrue or recklessly not caring whether the statements were true or false."
Wi-LAN claims it has been damaged in its character and reputation as a result.
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