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Pastimes : Business Wire Falls for April Fools Prank, Sues FBNers -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Peter V who wrote (3587)	12/6/1999 10:17:00 PM
From: Jeffrey S. Mitchell	Respond to of 3795

Your point that no one wins with frivolous lawsuits is well taken. The problem here is that Business Wire tried to pretend this wasn't a SLAPP suit. When we filed a motion under the anti-SLAPP provision it forced them to show their hand and then the world knew they were bluffing. They clearly had not considered we might do that and it really made them look not just foolish by pathetic, IMO. Of course I'm biased (g). Let's not forget that Business Wire sued us. They were the ones ostensibly with something to prove. Did they prove it? No. In the end they cleared us of all charges. Whether that's a "victory" depends on your perspective. Suppose we had spent another $100K on attorneys fees, put our lives on hold for a year, and then won in court. Would that have been a "victory"? Isn't a SLAPP suit designed to make the other side waste time and money? If we had a federal anti-SLAPP provision then this whole thing would have been over with in a month. It would also deter companies from filing such lawsuits in the future. Only when such a provision passes will I consider that a victory. - Jeff

To: Peter V who wrote (3587)	12/6/1999 11:02:00 PM
From: Bill Ulrich	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3795

I'm inclined to agree with you: “If BW had to pay all of the attorney fees and got smacked with a large punitive damage award, now that would have been a victory.” The good thing is that, whilst the suit was designed to turn us into sausage, using the functional mechanics of a system inherently flawed towards that end—we at least still have our teeth. <gg> Unless someone fixes that machine, it will continue to let entities like BW grind up bodies. Both sides got off lightly this time. That's good enough to call it a day.