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: dantecristo who wrote (551)	8/3/2000 11:44:04 AM
From: Jeffrey S. Mitchell	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 12465

Re: 8/3/00 [BXM] Judge Rules Online Postings About Biomatrix Were Libel August 3, 2000 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Judge Rules Online Postings About Biomatrix Were Libel By AARON ELSTEIN WSJ.COM Biomatrix Inc. has won a victory against the people it sued for using the Internet to defame the New Jersey pharmaceuticals company. Two legal experts say the case is the first time a court has found that an individual's online postings constituted libel. Companies nationwide have brought more than 100 such cases, but the suits are usually settled out of court before a judge can rule. Judge Peter F. Boggia of the New Jersey Superior Court in Bergen Country ruled July 25 against three people who posted "clearly libelous" messages. The trio alleged in an Internet message board run by Yahoo! Inc. that the company's chief executive was a Nazi and that its product to treat arthritis has killed people. The company said the accusations are "utterly and completely baseless and false." Want to receive an e-mail alert when Heard on the Net columns are published? See the E-Mail Setup page for details on how to subscribe. "This ruling sets a precedent, and I suspect lawyers across the country will be banging on the clerk's door to read it," said Blake Bell, a lawyer at Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett in New York who has represented several companies in cybersmear cases. The Biomatrix defendants might appeal the lower court's ruling. But now that the judge has ruled that the defendants libeled Biomatrix and its top managers, a major issue remaining is to assess damages. The parties can settle out of court, or the judge can set damages. The company asked for unspecified damages. Charles Solomont, a lawyer with Bingham Dana LLP in Boston who represented Biomatrix of Ridgefield, N.J., said his client was "very gratified" by the ruling. David Butler, the lawyer who represented the three people named in the suit, said he thought they would appeal the judge's ruling on the grounds that Biomatrix didn't show that the online messages harmed the company economically. Mr. Butler added that he has been "terminated" by the three defendants, who include Raymond V. Costanzo and Richard Costanzo, who are twin brothers living in Durham, N.C., and Ephraim Morris of Phoenix, Ariz. Mr. Butler says Raymond Costanzo used to work at Biomatrix, but the other two didn't. Raymond Costanzo declined to comment Wednesday. Richard Costanzo couldn't be reached. Mr. Morris would only say, "This is a very terrible situation," and note he is looking for new counsel. In his ruling, Judge Boggia said he disagreed with the defense's claim that no one would take seriously their postings about Biomatrix. Those postings published on Yahoo! Finance alleged, among other things, that Biomatrix CEO Endre A. Balazs was a "Nazi SS doctor" who "tortured and experimented on helpless human beings during World War II." Another poster said that a woman who used a company product that is injected in the knee to treat arthritis caused her to "cough up blood and scream in agony before she died." The fact that some messages contained statements saying they were "100% accurate" and contained information from "inside sources" suggests that the writers wanted to be taken seriously, the judge said. "The judge's ruling means he accepts Biomatrix's argument that the postings were defamatory and there's no need to put this case before a jury," said Lyrissa Lidsky, a professor of law at the University of Florida who has written extensively on the rights of people to publish their opinions anonymously on the Internet. Message boards are infamously rambunctious places where people write about companies and stocks they love or hate without needing to reveal their real names. Because of the anonymity these forums offer, they are considered fertile breeding grounds for hoaxes and outright attacks. But they have also grown extremely popular as more people turn to the Internet for investment information. For example, stock-chat site Raging Bull (www.ragingbull.com), a unit of CMGI, Andover, Mass., says it gets as many as 60,000 messages every day about hundreds of different stocks. As the number of people flocking to message boards has grown, so too has the number of companies who have reacted against allegedly false and defamatory statements by filing suit. To ignore all the attacks, they say, is to at least tacitly acknowledge they are true. Although people began attacking Biomatrix online last year, the company didn't file suit until January. Mr. Solomont, Biomatrix's lawyer, said it was urgent for the company to learn who was behind the attacks because they migrated to a message board dedicated to Genzyme Corp. shortly after Biomatrix agreed to sell to the Cambridge, Mass. company in March. "The postings had the potential to affect the merger because shareholders hadn't voted on it yet and the postings had the potential to mislead," Mr. Solomont said. Shares of Biomatrix closed up 62.5 cents to $21.63 Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange. interactive.wsj.com

To: dantecristo who wrote (551)	8/17/2000 12:53:23 AM
From: Jeffrey S. Mitchell	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 12465

Re: 8/3/00 - Apple says trade secrets posted online / Apple Files Suit to Stop Web Posting of Trade Secrets Apple says trade secrets posted online In a lawsuit, the company says an unknown individual posted images of its new mouse and dual-processor Power Mac G4 months before their release. By Sean Silverthorne, ZDNet News August 2, 2000 12:06 PM PT Apple Computer Inc. is suing an unknown individual or individuals who posted images and disclosed details of unannounced products. In a lawsuit filed in Santa Clara (Calif.) Superior Court Wednesday, Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) said digital images of its new ApplePro Mouse and Power Mac G4 were posted on several Web sites months before the products' release last month. Apple does not know who is responsible for leaking the information. The suit does not name the sites where the images were allegedly posted, but several Apple rumor sites regularly trade in publishing information Apple considers confidential. The suit says images of the new mouse were posted on the Internet around Feb. 16, long before its official release July 19. Photos of the Power Mac G4 were posted Feb. 16, according to the company. The suit says also that Apple believes the person responsible has publicly posted trade secret information about other Apple products that Apple has not publicly disclosed. Apple is asking for compensatory and exemplary damages and an injunction against further publishing. "Apple is informed and believes that Doe 1 is continuing and will continue to misappropriate Apple's Future Product Information," the lawsuit states. "By reason of that ongoing misappropriation, Apple will suffer great and irreparable harm and damage..." The company has aggressively gone after individuals and companies it believes have abused its trademarks and copyrights, including a high-profile action against companies who Apple believed too closely copied the distinctive iMac design. zdnet.com ===== August 3, 2000 Apple Files Suit to Stop Web Posting of Trade Secrets By REUTERS CUPERTINO, Calif., -- Apple Computer Inc. said Wednesday it filed a lawsuit against an unknown individual who posted pictures of its dual-processor G4 computer and its Apple Pro mouse on the Internet before their official introduction. The complaint, filed in the Superior Court for Santa Clara County, Calif., seeks an injunction against further disclosure of Apple's trade secrets as well as monetary damages, the Cupertino, Calif.-based computer maker said in statement. According to the lawsuit, in February the unknown individual or individuals posted images of the dual-processor Power Mac G4 before its introduction July 19. Then again, in late June, this same person posted images of the Apple Pro Mouse, also announced on July 19, on the Internet. There are many sites on the Internet devoted to Apple and its computers, and the company has an avid, loyal following that leads to much speculation on what products Apple and its co-founder and Chief Executive Steve Jobs will next introduce. Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple on July 19 in New York unveiled a broader, new line of computers aimed at boosting computer power and sales. It unveiled additional colors -- such as indigo, ruby, snow and sage -- for its popular iMac computer. The company, in addition to announcing the Power Mac G4, announced a cube-shaped, quieter version of the G4 computer. It also announced a deal it had struck with Circuit City Inc. to sell computers at its stores nationwide. Analysts said at the time that the new product lines were likely to boost sales in coming quarters. Apple shares fell 2-1/16 to 47-1/4 in Nasdaq trading on Wednesday. The stock has risen 77 percent in the last 12 months, but is down 37 percent from its year-high reached on March 23. So far this year, Apple shares have fallen 4.1 percent. nytimes.com