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Software Maker Sues Online Critics
SANFORD, Fla., Apr 07, 1999 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- A software maker
is suing seven unidentified people who wrote critical comments about
the company on an Internet message board.
Phoenix International Ltd. claims the rumors on the message board
operated by Yahoo! Inc. defamed the company and caused its stock price
to dip.
The lawsuit was filed March 19 in state circuit court at the Seminole
County Courthouse.
Phoenix has issued subpoenas for Yahoo! records, demanding that the
company disclose the names of the chat-room participants. Bahram
Yusefzadeh, the company's chairman and chief executive, said Yahoo! was
cooperating fully, although the individuals haven't yet been
identified.
Some of the messages, many of which are critical of Yusefzadeh, appear
to be employees and former employees, the chairman said Tuesday.
Someone using the moniker ''johnboscarelli'' posted messages on Feb. 9
and 16 that said, ''not a single ex-manager from the company is on
speaking terms with this Yusefzadeh character'' and ''the CEO isn't too
sharp technically, has a huge ego and has a well-earned reputation for
dealing dishonestly with his managers and business partners.''
During the past 2 1/2 months, senior company officials have spent
''enormous amounts of time'' defending the company from negative
rumors, Yusefzadeh said.
''Some people have put this company under siege for some of the garbage
put on this Yahoo! chatboard,'' he said.
Phoenix makes software for the financial-services industry. Its stock
traded this week for nearly $5, down from a 52-week high of $21.68.
Yusefzadeh owns about 1.4 million shares of the company, meaning his
stake in Phoenix has dropped in value from $31 million to $7 million
during the past year.
Robert V. Bolen, an analyst with J.C. Bradford & Co. in Nashville,
Tenn., said the negative chat had damaged the company.
The stock lost one-third of its value on Jan. 13, when the company
announced its fourth-quarter earnings would be 9 cents a share, less
than half of the 20-cent projection.
But the stock has continued to slide since then, and there has been no
other reasonable explanation, Bolen said.
The other defendants go under the monikers ''readbetweenthelines,''
''numbersguy--2000,'' ''PHXX--Loser,'' ''EmployedThere,''
''banker9999'' and ''Phoenix--Employee.''
Copyright 1999 Associated Press, All rights reserved.
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