To All MDHM/NPEC "Bash Trashers":
Perhaps you thought I was sent to SI Jail??? Hardly!!! I'm back from a 3 day trip to sunny San Diego for the annual 4th of July family get together.
Here is a little read I picked up for the "basher" in mind. Please notice the ninth paragraph inside the article to find a familiar company symbol (honorable mention). Have fun :))
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AWARDED COSTS IN COURT APPERANCE:
STOCKHOUSE AND ANONYMOUS POSTERS FACE $6-MILLION SUIT
by Stockwatch Business Reporter:
Feeling that Medical Resorts International was the target of ongoing
false and malicious statements posted to an Internet discussion site
operated by StockHouse Media Corporation, president Robert Talbot
requested that StockHouse provide the names and addresses of the
offending posters. "They told us to get a court order," Mr. Talbot said.
That is precisely what Medical Resorts did, launching a $6-million suit
against StockHouse and two anonymous posters in the process.
The statement of claim filed by Robert Talbot and Medical Resorts
International in the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta in Edmonton
names StockHouse Media Corporation, StockHouse.com, John Doe
1 also known as Peter41, and John Doe 2 also known as Waitnsee,
as defendants. The suit claims various damages including damages
for defamation, negligent misrepresentation, and exemplary
damages. Among other things, Medical Resorts alleges that "the
Defendants Peter41 and Waitnsee have wrongfully made the false
and malicious statements against the Plaintiffs, which were published
by the Defendants Stockhouse Media and Stockhouse.com, with the
intention of causing shareholders to sell their shares in the Plaintiff
Medical Resorts and to purchase shares in companies that the
Defendants are promoting or in which they have a direct interest."
StockHouse has not filed a statement of defence.
In a subsequent hearing before Madam Justice D. Sulyma on March
9, Medical Resorts obtained a court order requiring Stockhouse
Media Corporation to "produce and surrender to the Plaintiffs all
information in their possession pertaining to the identification of the
Defendants, JOHN DOE 1 also known as PETER41 and JOHN DOE
2 also known as WAITNSEE including however not limited to proper
names, addresses, telephone numbers, other aliases, internet e-mail
addresses, application and credit information." It was also ordered
that StockHouse cease publishing and remove all posts on the
Medical Resorts bulletin board authored by Peter41 and Waitnsee or
any other of their aliases. StockHouse has not complied with the
order.
On March 19, a notice of motion was filed that an application would
be made on Friday, March 26 for an order citing StockHouse in civil
contempt for failing to obey the March 9 order to disclose the
information regarding the anonymous posters and to remove their
posts. StockHouse did not make an appearance at the hearing on
Friday.
Mr. Talbot says that he is prepared to take this "all the way" and that
the case will likely result in the institution of some standards regarding
Internet posting. "A lot of these people are real brave when they're
hiding behind anonymity," he says. He notes that the court order
compels StockHouse to divulge all of the aliases of the named
posters. He is convinced that the same individuals using different
aliases are responsible for other negative posts regarding the
company. According to Mr. Talbot, StockHouse is "thumbing its nose"
at Alberta judges by not obeying the order. He states that Medical
Resorts has "asked for certain remedies" the nature of which he
would not disclose, adding, "If we get them, StockHouse are not
going to be very happy campers."
A call to StockHouse's president Jeff Berwick last Friday was
returned by the company's vice-president Mark Crowder who would
not comment on specific matters related to the legal action. He did
remark that the sensitive issue of anonymity will probably surface
more often as the Internet is increasingly used by people looking for
investment information. According to Mr. Crowder, StockHouse had
just received the notification regarding the order to disclose the
identity of the posters and it had been passed on to the company's
lawyer, Brian Kaminski. Mr. Crowder said that Mr. Kaminski was
quite surprised that Medical Resorts had obtained the court order. A
call to Mr. Kaminski of the law firm Bell Spagnuolo on Friday
afternoon was not returned.
Anonymity is fiercely defended by posters using Internet stock
discussion sites, and attempts or threats to uncover the identities of
posters are often met with a deluge of protest from other discussion
site participants. The anonymity of posters is also of some concern to
many of the companies who host discussion forums. Sites such as
StockHouse, which derive a large part of their revenue from
advertising, face stiff competition to attract 'hits' or visitors to the site.
The more hits, the better able the company is to sell advertising and
the more exposure for its fee-based offerings, such as the
pay-per-view newsletters carried by StockHouse. According to a Feb.
8 article in The Australian published during Mr. Berwick's promotional
tour in Australia, StockHouse is the top financial site in Canada,
boasting about 100 million hits per month. Whatever the number of
hits, many are made by posters and 'lurkers' who follow some of the
more controversial threads where anonymous posters spin out yarns,
often with little regard for fact.
Becoming embroiled in a multi-million dollar lawsuit might be of more
concern to StockHouse, especially at this time, than protecting the
identity of what several of its users, particularly participants in the
active Medical Resorts thread, consider to be a couple of nuisance
posters. Again according to The Australian, StockHouse is planning
multiple exchange listings, including Nasdaq and the Australian Stock
Exchange, within the next six to 12 months and such a suit could have
unwanted ramifications for that quest. Moreover, a San Francisco
investment firm is purportedly conducting a $6-million placement in
advance of the Nasdaq listing and a legal action might turn potential
investors away. StockHouse apparently turned its attention to Nasdaq
after having its listing application declined by the Alberta Stock
Exchange in September 1998, largely over concerns about the
company's stock discussion forum. Mr. Berwick has acknowledged
that the message boards were once under scrutiny by U.S. and
Canadian securities regulators who feared that they allowed the
possibility for the release of insider information or fraudulent
information.
While protecting anonymity, increasing 'hits', and the quest for an
exchange listing may be StockHouse's primary objectives, the
number of publicly traded companies taking action against
anonymous posters and the sites that host discussion forums is
growing. In July 1998, troubled Philip Services reacted to a spate of
negative and, in some instances, threatening Internet discussion site
posts by obtaining a court order obliging a number of ISPs to reveal
the identities of several anonymous posters. In September 1998,
ASE-listed Hampton Court Resources took the unusual step of
responding to Internet hype by issuing a press release cautioning
investors about false rumours circulating on chat sites. Many of those
rumours were initiated by an anonymous StockHouse poster. In
October 1998, Medinah Energy, a small U.S. mining company
launched a suit naming the Internet pseudonyms of posters the
company contended were making false and defamatory statements
on message boards. In December 1998, Nasdaq listed American
Eco Corporation, was awarded punitive damages of $500,000 (U.S.)
and direct damages of $75,000 in a lawsuit against a poster hiding
behind an alias while posting falsehoods about the company. In the
same suit, the former chief financial officer of the company, David
Norris, was awarded a total of $7.75-million in punitive and direct
damages.
Whether in Canada or the United States, litigation can be expensive.
Medical Resorts is a small medical services and health tourism
company deriving most of its revenue from its resort on the
Caribbean island of Anguilla which caters to dialysis patients. For the
six months ended December 31, 1998 the company reported a net
income of $180,684 from operating revenue of awarded costs in its
court appearance $492,950. Nonetheless, Mr. Talbot is adamant that
he is committed to pursuing the matter. He was encouraged by the
fact that Medical Resorts was awarded costs in its court appearance
on Friday. Mr. Talbot said he did not know what amount had been
awarded but the company's lawyer had just returned to the court to
have the judgment registered. The company's solicitor is Robert
Burgener, a director of Medical Resorts.
ragingbull.com
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