Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Pastimes : Investment Chat Board Lawsuits -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jeffrey S. Mitchell who wrote (213)	4/19/2000 5:26:00 PM
From: Janice Shell	Respond to of 12465

lol, WHO'S full of it???

To: Jeffrey S. Mitchell who wrote (213)	4/19/2000 7:33:00 PM
From: StockDung	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 12465

Investment Adviser Roberts Did Not Defame Sabratek, Judge Says- Stock adviser Mark Roberts, whose newsletter ``Off Wall Street' is circulated widely among investment firms, did not defame Sabratek Corp. when he suggested that company management was defrauding investors, a judge ruled today. Roberts wrote disparagingly about Niles, Illinois-based Sabratek, a maker of medical devices, in four editions of ``Off Wall Street' last year. He called management ``disingenuous' and suggested the company was falsifying sales figures. The company and its chairman, K. Shan Padda, sued, calling the articles defamatory and claiming they drove share price down by a third. Also, in a stock fraud claim, the company alleged that Roberts had himself short-sold the stock, betting that the price would fall so he could personally profit. U.S. District Judge Harold Baer dismissed the suit, ruling that Sabratek had put forth no facts to support its claims and that Roberts' comments were merely opinion and not defamatory. ``All that is alleged is that Roberts made negative and allegedly false statements in his newsletter,' Baer wrote. ``There is no allegation that any shareholders did in fact sell their shares or were influenced by Roberts' statements.' Sabratek filed for bankruptcy in January. Its stock, which rose as high as 30 1/2 in June, was trading at .15 late Wednesday. In its suit, Sabratek complained of numerous comments appearing in ``Off Wall Street' beginning last March. Roberts said that Padda was ``not credible' and remarked, ``We think that it is more likely that Sabratek stuffed someone with (their product) to make a decent showing for the quarter.' Roberts, who sells yearly subscriptions to his Cambridge, Massachusetts-based newsletter for $30,000, was also accused of telephoning investors and urging them to sell shares. He allegedly called Padda a ``pathological liar' and ``fraud.' Meanwhile, Roberts was selling Sabratek shares short, hoping to profit from an anticipated price decline, the lawsuit alleged. Sabratek shares eventually fell sharply as the company lost some $90 million in market value. In his ruling, Baer said the lawsuit was long on accusations but short on facts. ``These conclusory allegations provide scant, if any, specificity about the facts on which plaintiffs base their beliefs,' the judge said. In addition, Baer noted that while assertions of fact may form the basis of a defamation claim, expressions of opinions do not. He classified Roberts' comments as opinions. ``When the defendant's statements, read in context, are readily understood as conjecture, hypothesis, or speculation, this signals the reader that what is said is opinion, not fact,' Baer said. --David Glovin in U.S. District Court in New York (212) 732-9245, or at dglovin@bloomberg.net, through the New York newsroom (212) 893-3665/ep

To: Jeffrey S. Mitchell who wrote (213)	4/23/2000 10:52:00 PM
From: Jeffrey S. Mitchell	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 12465

Re: Log On America Settlement Agreement [LOAX] Log On America Settlement Agreement by: p_n_l_man (27/M/Your town) 4/18/00 3:00 pm Msg: 4353 of 4390 Bashers Beware! Subject: Log On America Settlement Agreement As part of a settlement agreement with Log On America, Inc. ("LOA"), executed on April 17, 2000, I have agreed to make this posting to the Yahoo, Sillicon Investor and Raging Bull LOAX message boards. From approximately December 30, 1999 until approximately April 2, 2000, I authored and posted numerous messages to the Yahoo! Log On America, Inc. (NASDAQ: LOAX) message board which were both not true and misleading. In those postings I used the following pseudonyms: "p_n_l_man" and "agressor2". I used these pseudonyms without informing anyone that I was the person using these aliases. This use of multiple pseudonyms was designed to give the impression that more than one person was posting these negative statements about LOA and it's directors and officers and to lend credibility to these remarks. I also created fictitious conversations between these multiple pseudonyms in order to lead the users of the Yahoo! LOA message board to believe that others shared my sentiments. Contrary to statements made in my postings, I am not and have never been an LOA shareholder or short seller and I posted my messages because I was a past employee, had worked with the current CEO and was not there to participate in LOA's successful IPO. The statements I made, which were designed to discredit and embarrass management, while discouraging investors from buying LOA securities and enticing short sellers to increase their positions, were motivated by the frustration I felt over the success the CEO had accomplished since we last worked together. I apologize to the LOA management and their families. In addition, as part of the settlement agreement, I have agreed for a period of ten (10) years from the above date, to cease and desist from posting any messages or statements on the Yahoo! LOA message board, or on any other similar or internet-based message board or similar service or site, regarding, relating to, or which LOA or any of its directors, officers, employees, agents, attorneys, or representatives. In addition, I have agreed to cease and desist from making any untrue statements, material omissions or any false, misleading, inaccurate or incomplete statements about or regarding LOA or any of its directors, officers, employees, agents, attorneys or representatives. Finally, although this is not part of the agreement, it is my actual opinion that the LOA management has really accomplished something significant with the company and I applaud their perseverance and efforts. p_n_l_man agressor2 messages.yahoo.com Message 13476896