Bluegreen, while RobertK does not yet understand why he should read thestreet.com or TSC I think this article provides an example of why. It seems you were right about law suits. Perhaps this is why some threads have dried up. Instead of reading copies of just one article at TSC I recommend that everyone get a subscription. About $70 for daily insights.
thestreet.com
Top Stories: Internet Message Boards Under Attack
Again
By Gregg Wirth
Staff Reporter
12/16/98 3:03 PM ET
"If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all."
That old adage, usually drummed into our heads by our mothers, might one day
become official policy in the online message board world. Two lawsuits, one just
decided and one just filed, have reopened debate over where in cyberspace free speech
and defamation collide.
In a victory for the companies, the suit that was decided this week found an online
message board poster liable for more than $8 million in damages.
Tod Pauly, a message-board regular, says he worries about the trend toward more
lawsuits against online posters. "If we allow these companies to go after the posters,
the information needed to protect investors in some cases won't get out," Pauly says.
But on the other side, companies say they're trying to protect themselves from what at
times are false statements, which can depress their stock prices.
Jared Silverman, a private attorney who specializes in Internet-related cases, notes that
some of these lawsuits are similar to the so-called SLAPP, or Strategic Lawsuits
Against Public Participation, suits sometimes filed by companies to discourage public
opposition and negative publicity. "If this is a private action that goes out to silence
somebody, then that is troublesome," Silverman says.
Still, that doesn't give online posters free reign. "The standards of defamation still
apply on the Internet as far as posting things that are false," Silverman explains,
adding that if it is analysis or opinion the company seeks to squelch, that may be more
of a problem.
On Monday, American Eco (ECGOF:Nasdaq) said it and a former executive were
awarded $8.3 million in a lawsuit against a single anonymous online poster. The lion's
share of that, a $7.75 million award in punitive and actual damages, went to the
company's former chief financial officer, David Norris. The online poster, who went by
the alias of PMMK1, posted what the company said were false statements about
Norris' executive history that resulted in Norris being suspended, according to the
company.
The suit was filed in the 280th Judicial District Court of Harris County, Texas. The
suit names Jonathan Grossman, of Huntington Beach, Calif., as its defendant. A phone
call to the Huntington Beach number of a Jon Grossman was not returned.
An American Eco spokeswoman says the suit stemmed from a "particularly malicious"
series of messages posted on the Yahoo! boards about one year ago. The company
was able to learn the identity of the poster by issuing a subpoena to the message-board
site, she says. Norris and the company jointly agreed that he should step down because
of all the fuss the continuous postings were causing, she adds. Attempts to reach
Norris were unsuccessful.
"There's a big difference between posting opinions and posting false things as
historical fact -- this individual crossed that line," the spokeswoman notes. "People
need to become aware that if they shoot off their mouths, there may be consequences --
I think this is a wake-up call to other posters."
But the debate continues on the boards. An online poster called Ripskii, writing in the
Yahoo! message board on American Eco's stock, exclaims: "I would point out that
these same management people who are so quick to sue over slander should guard their
OWN behinds. Go[d] knows they've given WE the STOCKHOLDERS, enough cause
to bring suit against them for a variety of reasons."
In the other case, Legacy Software's (LGCYC:Nasdaq) chairman last week filed a
$10 million defamation suit against 11 defendants. All but one of the defendants were
listed as John Doe. Legacy's stock jumped 85% yesterday as word of the company's
new lawsuit was thrust onto the message boards.
In an odd move, Charles Solomont, a Boston attorney for Michael Zwebner, Legacy's
chairman, posted a copy of the defamation lawsuit on Silicon Investor last week.
The legal documents asked two online message board posters, who go by the aliases
Spider Valdez and Rico Staris, to waive their rights to be served with court papers in
person. The waivers would require the two anonymous defendants to disclose their real
names.
The pair has not formally responded to the lawsuit yet, says Solomont, adding that he
is confident that he will eventually learn the real identities of the message posters.
"Once we find out their true names, we will pursue our claims against them,"
Solomont says.
Solomont says he doesn't believe a lawsuit can be decided and damages levied against
an alias on a message board -- that's why finding out the names of the posters is so
important. In previous cases, like American Eco's, companies learn the identities of
message posters by issuing subpoenas to the board operator. Both Yahoo! and Silicon
Investor have complied with past subpoenas.
The Legacy suit accuses the pair and a named individual, Dean Dumont of Milford,
N.H., of posting false and defamatory statements about Zwebner. Dumont says the
matter is being handled by his attorneys and he declines further comment. The suit,
filed in U.S. District Court in New Hampshire, seeks $10 million in damages, and
notes the amount could be doubled or tripled under current laws.
The allegedly damaging posts were said to have been made on Silicon Investor in
several message boards, known as threads. The suit contends that the posters even
created a new thread, ironically called "Spider & Rico's 'No-Bash' Thread for LGCY,"
in which they would ridicule Zwebner. Eugene Rosov, Legacy's president and chief
executive, declined to comment on the suit, referring questions to attorneys. Zwebner
couldn't be reached for comment.
See Also
TOP STORIES
Tearing Down the
Internet's
Anonymous
Posters
9/22/98 4 PM
TOP STORIES
ARCHIVE
Legacy Software
Company Quotes
American Eco
Company Quotes
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