Max, here is the ABTX info, VERY INTERESTING READING.
Accelr8 presses defamation suit
By Steve Raabe
Denver Post Business Writer
In what could become a landmark legal battle, Acceler8 Technology Corp. of Denver has sued an unidentified individual who made alleged defamatory messages about the company on the Internet.
The lawsuit, filed this week in Pitkin County District Court in
Aspen, identifies the defendant only as "aspenactor,'' the Internet log-on name used by the author of the messages. In a related filing, software developer Acceler8 is asking the
court to force Web server Yahoo! Inc. to provide the name of
"aspenactor'' and identify all Internet postings made by the
individual.
The case could test the limits of free speech for individuals
who send messages anonymously to chat rooms and other Internet communication areas, said University of Denver law professor John Soma. Soma, who also serves as director of the Computer Law
Association, said Acceler8's effort to force Yahoo! to identify
the message sender "is a very clever response to smoke out or
flush out the true identity of the alleged wrongdoer." He said this case is one of the first occurrences of a Web server being asked to identify a valid client.
In other cases in which computer hackers have illegally entered Internet sites, Soma said, Web servers have often willingly identified the parties. In the Acceler8 case, Snowmass resident Frank Geyer has acknowledged that he uses the "aspenactor" log-on name, although he has not admitted that he was the sender of the messages. Geyer, a comedian and actor who played the sheriff in the movie "Forrest Gump," was identified as "aspenactor" in an
Aspen Daily News article.
Geyer told The Denver Post Thursday that he is an Acceler8
shareholder who has been displeased with the company's
financial performance and the leadership of Acceler8 CEO
Thomas Geimer. "I just don't like the job (Geimer) is doing," Geyer said. He said he's displeased that Acceler8 officials sold some of their own shares of the company's stock when it was trading at about $25 a share in late 1997 and early 1998, but who
have failed to buy back shares now that they're trading at less
than $4.
Acceler8 officials could not be reached for comment. According to the lawsuit, "aspenactor" wrote a message to the Acceler8 Internet investor board stating that "aspenactor" is "dating a lady who dated Tom (Geimer's) brother and grew up with the family . . . Guess what? Everyone believes Tom is a loser and a geek and couldn't lead a circle jerk in an all boys summer camp."
Acceler8 said in the lawsuit that "the statement regarding
Mr. Geimer's family's opinion of him is false." The suit alleges that "aspenactor'' wrote another false statement on the investor board which reads: "Did ya'll ever go back and look at the insider trading from a year plus ago?? Well ya' should, these people are so crooked they can't lay in bed straight." When he is served, he said, he'll likely represent himself in court. "I'll go in there and take a copy of the Constitution and a copy of the Bible, and I'll use my acerbic wit to defend myself," Geyer said. "I'm not going to pay a lawyer to tell them what Thomas Jefferson said they can't do to me."
In the lawsuit, Acceler8 said it will seek unspecified damages
for what it described as the defendant's "extreme, outrageous
repeated libelous and malicious statements."
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IMHO we could see more of these lawsuits as posters continue to hide behind anonymous screen anmes, or multiple anonymous screen names, and maker libelous and malicious statements, and post outlandish statements on the boards (to include outright lies).
Very interesting. |
