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To: Sully- who wrote (6864)	10/10/2000 11:48:41 AM
From: Sully-	Respond to of 65232

Qualcomm sues to unmask Net scribes From QRTS Qualcomm sues to unmask Net scribes By Bruce V. Bigelow October 10, 2000 In a case that could pit civil liberties against securities law, San Diego-based Qualcomm has sued to unmask 20 individuals who posted anonymous messages about the company on an Internet stock message board. . . . The company contends that many bullish messages posted on a Yahoo! message board called "Qualcomm's Rocket to the Stars" include confidential information available only to Qualcomm employees. In its lawsuit, Qualcomm contends that revealing confidential or proprietary information to outsiders violates the nondisclosure agreement signed by all employees. The company not only wants the names of the anonymous scribes who posted the messages -- it also wants to identify their friends and associates at Qualcomm who might have talked. "This is part of a process to ensure that this type of information is not disclosed," Qualcomm spokeswoman Christine Trimble said yesterday. "With this filing, we can determine if there are problems with confidential corporate information being shared by our employees." . . . . David Banisar, a senior fellow at the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington, D.C. . . . who specializes in cyberspace civil liberties, contends that corporate lawyers have successfully intimidated investors in dozens of cases from discussing the financial health of publicly traded companies. "The deck is really stacked against the people who are in many cases posting legitimate notices on the Net," Banisar said. "The purpose of these suits has been solely to determine the identity of the posters, and then to punish them in some way." Aside from the challenge to freedom of speech on the Internet, Banisar said the company's bid to identify the posters' friends and associates at Qualcomm raises equally troubling issues. He contends that judges should require a company to show exactly how it has been harmed by messages posted on a Web site before allowing corporate lawyers to rummage for information about those posting the messages. In Qualcomm's lawsuit, for example, the company says Internet messages posted by "buff_girl_92111" is a "current employee of Qualcomm who obtained the nonpublic confidential information by virtue of his or her employment with Qualcomm." But the company does not state it its suit what nonpublic confidential information was disclosed. . . . The company also insists that five other posters are Qualcomm employees. It is seeking to reveal the identities of "nemoman," "just_a_lurker_2000," "faahrley_h_qualcomm," "THEWEALTHYANALYST" and "chem_dr1." Subpoenas seeking to unmask each alias have been served on Yahoo!, the Santa Clara Internet media company that hosts stock chat forums and provides other Web-based services. Yahoo! typically notifies the message-board posters named in the complaint, giving each 15 days to file an opposing motion to quash disclosure of their identities. That could be an expensive option, especially for the posters who live outside of San Diego, where Qualcomm filed its suit. On the other hand, if they don't formally object, Yahoo! will release their names to Qualcomm's lawyers. One San Diego resident who received the Yahoo! notice and who asked for anonymity, called Qualcomm's action unprecedented. This person, who says he is a former Qualcomm employee, vowed to oppose the subpoena seeking to disclose his identity. Courtesy of maxgo from the Buy Range..... Message 14546396 Ö¿Ö