Saturday May 22 1:30 AM ET
Raytheon Drops Internet Chat Suit
By TOM KIRCHOFER Associated Press Writer
BOSTON (AP) - Raytheon Co. (NYSE:RTNa - news) has dropped a lawsuit against a group of people it believed were spreading company secrets in an anonymous Internet chat room - after the defense contractor obtained their names.
Most of the 21 chatters were employees, and critics say the company used the court's power to chill free speech.
''It seems that the sole objective of Raytheon was to identify these individuals,'' said David Sobel of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a Washington-based research group. ''It raises questions about the legitimacy of the way the court's discovery procedures were used.''
Four of the workers quit, and Raytheon says the rest entered corporate ''counseling.''
''We felt like our internal investigation had accomplished what we wanted it to accomplish. It was time to put the matter behind us,'' David Polk, a spokesman for the Lexington-based company, said Friday.
''We are committed to protecting proprietary information from being communicated on a public forum. We think we've done that to a certain extent.''
In February, Raytheon filed suit against 21 ''John Does,'' accusing them of discussing such matters as rumored mergers and acquisitions, impending divestitures and possible defense contracts on a public Internet site. The company asked the court on Thursday to drop the case.
The chatters used aliases to conceal their identities. Raytheon obtained subpoenas against Internet services, and Polk said the company eventually learned all 21 names.
Sobel said the situation illustrated the need for standards to ensure that online anonymity is not too easily compromised.
''I'm not prepared to say that it's the responsibility of the Internet companies to fight these efforts, but they do need to make sure that their subscribers are given notice of these subpoenas,'' he said.
In the Raytheon case, America Online received subpoenas. Under AOL policy, whenever it receives a subpoena in a civil case, the customer is notified and given 14 days to try to block the subpoena. Only after that time has expired will the company turn over the information, said AOL spokesman Rich D'Amato.
However, he said targets of criminal investigations are not given such a luxury.
Earlier Stories
Raytheon Said Dropping Chat Suit (May 21)
RaytSaid Dropping Chat Board Suit (May 21)
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