Paul,
How do I know you weren't born in Biafra? I don't. On the other hand, is this Paul Engel you? You run an investment firm? Is that what you call your stock portfolio? <G>
venus.soci.niu.edu
"Paul Engel, who runs a stock- trading and investment firm,
filed a lawsuit against SRI employee Terje Oseberg and SRI on
December 24 in San Mateo County Superior Court.
Engel claimed in the lawsuit that the messages sent on
September 23 clogged his computer, interrupted his business
and caused an income loss and other damages exceeding $25,000.
SRI is closed for the holidays and its legal department, which
is said to be handling Oseberg and the company's defense,
could not be contacted for comment.
Oseberg did not return calls.
Engel's attorney, David Bloom, said Engel had received the
messages in the aftermath of a "minor disagreement" between
Engel and Oseberg.
The dispute, over description of the Pentium computer chip,
began when Engel and Oseberg exchanged comments on a stock
bulletin board called the "Silicon Investor," said Bloom.
The lawyer said Engel received the one-word messages from
computer addresses at SRI to which Oseberg is believed to have
access as an SRI employee.
According to Bloom, the content of the message is not an
issue.
"This is not a defamation case," he said. "It (the message)
could have said 'beautiful,' or it could have said, 'sorry.'
It could have said anything."
The suit alleges the messages were sent not to communicate at
all, but to harass and punish the recipient over what began as
a small dispute.
"It would be like Siskel sending Ebert 25,000 e-mails because
he didn't like his review of Star Trek," the attorney said."
Jim |
