Re: 2/17/05 - [UCSY] Legal Bloggers Deride Zwebner Lawsuit Against CNN
BLITZ-ERED WITH LAWYERLY DERISION
I see that two of the blawgosphere's most evenhanded writers are rolling their eyes this afternoon. What riles Mike Fox and Eugene Volokh? Seems to me it's folks who they feel don't get the law.
First, Mr. Fox rolled his eyes at Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., and his comments to CNN's Wolf Blitzer in "the Walmart rhubarb."
Now I see that even sanguine-in-nearly-all-circumstances Eugene Volokh is fed up, too. The good professor is not impressed that Universal Communication Systems CEO Michael J. Zwebner is suing a number of folks over a message board flame war. These defendants include, of all people, CNN's Wolf Blitzer, whom Zwebner accuses of failing to stop some message board yahoo from assuming Blitzer's name in public messages critical of Zwebner on RagingBull.com.
Volokh's assessment? Here's a taster:
"Appalling. First, I doubt that Blitzer even had a legal right to stop Wolfblitzzer0 from his posts; unless the posts were commercial advertising (which I doubt), Blitzer wouldn't have a right of publicity or trademark claim against Wolfblitzzer0. And I doubt Blitzer would have a libel claim (on the theory that Wolfblitzzer0 is hurting Blitzer's reputation by posting things under his name) because few readers would really think that the poster is Wolf Blitzer.
But second ..."
More here.
February 17, 2005 | Permalink
legalblogwatch.typepad.com
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February 17, 2005
Zwebner lawsuits on Internet posts
Michael J. Zwebner, the CEO of penny-stock holding company Universal Communication Systems , is unhappy that he's being flamed on the RagingBull.com message board [ ragingbull.lycos.com ], run by Lycos. He may have a legitimate beef to some extent; the 85 John Doe usernames he's seeking to discover are being represented by a lawyer, L. Van Stillman [ pabulletin.com ], who apparently pled guilty to SEC charges [ sec.gov ] of "pump and dump" schemes. (Then again, UCSY has a fishy 10-K [ biz.yahoo.com ], being forced to admit that their auditors don't think that the company can be maintained as a going concern. They've certainly had some bad luck: UCSY's 2003 10-K was late "because of a fire at the building which houses the Company's corporate headquarters" [ biz.yahoo.com ]. The most recent 10-Q was late "due to a fire at the corporate accountant's office". [ yahoo.brand.edgar-online.com ])
More importantly for our purposes here, Zwebner's litigation methods, through his lawyer John H. Faro, are questionable. He's filed five lawsuits in federal court in Miami, against anonymous posters, against Lycos (for, among other things, "trademark violations" for naming a message board after the ticker symbol UCSY), and even a couple of purported class actions. He's especially upset at one anonymous poster, who has the especially credible username of Wolfblitzzer0 [sic]. So, Zwebner has sued... CNN and the real-life Wolf Blitzer! It seems, according to Zwebner's view of the world, that Blitzer is supposed to be on the lookout for anonymous posters using similar names, and should be held liable for such posters' postings when he fails to police the use of such usernames. (Jessica M. Walker, "Executive Faces Uphill Battle in His Suits Over Anonymous Web Attacks", Daily Business Review, Jan. 28 [ law.com ]).
A Google search shows that Zwebner seems to have had previous success intimidating posters into silence [ Message 14072439 ]. Update: Professor Volokh comments [ volokh.com ].
Posted by Ted Frank at February 17, 2005 01:46 AM | TrackBack
overlawyered.com
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[Eugene Volokh, February 17, 2005 at 11:37am] 3 Trackbacks / Possibly More Trackbacks
Yet Another Ridiculous Lawsuit: Ted Frank (OverLawyered) reports:
Michael J. Zwebner, the CEO of penny-stock holding company Universal Communication Systems, is unhappy that he's being flamed on the RagingBull.com message board, run by Lycos. He may have a legitimate beef to some extent. . . .
[But] Zwebner's litigation methods . . .are questionable. He's filed five lawsuits in federal court in Miami, against anonymous posters, against Lycos (for, among other things, "trademark violations" for naming a message board after the ticker symbol UCSY), and even a couple of purported class actions. He's especially upset at one anonymous poster, who has the especially credible username of Wolfblitzzer0 [sic].
So, Zwebner has sued . . . CNN and the real-life Wolf Blitzer! It seems, according to Zwebner's view of the world, that Blitzer is supposed to be on the lookout for anonymous posters using similar names, and should be held liable for such posters' postings when he fails to police the use of such usernames. . . .
Appalling. First, I doubt that Blitzer even had a legal right to stop Wolfblitzzer0 from his posts; unless the posts were commercial advertising (which I doubt), Blitzer wouldn't have a right of publicity or trademark claim against Wolfblitzzer0. And I doubt Blitzer would have a libel claim (on the theory that Wolfblitzzer0 is hurting Blitzer's reputation by posting things under his name) because few readers would really think that the poster is Wolf Blitzer.
But second, Blitzer certainly has no legal duty to spend his time, money, and effort litigating over every schmoe's misuse of his name -- even if he had a legal right to stop such misuses -- especially when readers would realize that the poster isn't the real Blitzer. (Under the doctrine of "apparent authority," A may sometimes end up bound by contracts that B made on his behalf, when reasonable observers would assume that B actually has the authority to act for A; but that surely isn't the case here.)
Sounds like a sure loser of a case to me, perhaps even sanctionable (though that's a tougher call).
volokh.com |
