LAUGHING MY ASS OFF.
This is for everyone who ever got burned by these three clowns:
Jeffrey Mitchell, William Ulrich, and Janice Shell
(anyone who got burned on RMIL will remember them)
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 26, 1999--Business Wire, the
leading provider of up-to-the-minute commercial news to editors and the
worldwide financial community, today filed a lawsuit in federal court against three
perpetrators of a recent online hoax who used Business Wire's press release
distribution services to publicize a phony investment opportunity.
The defendants, Jeffrey Mitchell, William Ulrich and Janice Shell, submitted a
press release to Business Wire on behalf of a company called "Webnode" announcing
that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) had granted Webnode an exclusive contract
to raise funding for the Next Generation Internet (NGI). Although the NGI
is a bona fide project, Webnode -- and its supposed contract with the government -- is
a sham.
The bogus press release also included a fake solicitation for investments in "nodes" on
the NGI and directed readers to the Webnode.com website where they could
learn more about Webnode and register to invest.
The defendants responded to inquiries about Webnode and collected personal
information from nearly 2,000 people who believed, based on information in the
phony press release, they had a genuine opportunity to get in on the ground floor of the
NGI, the lawsuit alleges.
Based on the Webnode crew's assurances that the press release was genuine, Business
Wire distributed the news of Webnode's purported DOE contract over its
wire service and posted it on the businesswire.com website.
The defendants also posted the phony press release on the Webnode.com website. The
defendants' false announcement, with the BUSINESS WIRE trademark
prominently displayed on the byline, was made available to millions of readers.
When Business Wire discovered the hoax, it immediately pulled the Webnode
announcement from its website and notified recipients of its wire service to disregard
the announcement. Business Wire also demanded that the defendants remove the
BUSINESS WIRE mark from all copies of the press release.
In response, defendants changed the byline to "BIDNESS WIRE," a name easily
confused with Business Wire. The defendants only deleted the byline after
repeated demands from the company, and then began making false assertions that the
company was itself involved in fraudulent investment schemes, according to
the lawsuit.
Business Wire's lawsuit alleges violations of federal and state trademark laws, fraud,
breach of contract, defamation and conspiracy and seeks unspecified damages
and injunctive relief.
|
