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

To: Jeffrey S. Mitchell who wrote (1519)	5/9/2001 4:02:40 PM
From: hoyasaxa	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 12465

Technology, not policy, will restore one's right to privacy IMHO. Shame those posters weren't using ponoi's privacy bubble (www.ponoi.com).

To: Jeffrey S. Mitchell who wrote (1519)	5/22/2001 10:33:03 PM
From: Jeffrey S. Mitchell	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 12465

Re: 5/22/01 - [MTNX] Medinex Drops Suit Against Anonymous Online Critics; EFF Celebrates Another Successful Defense of Free Speech Rights Online Electronic Frontier Foundation Media Release For Immediate Release -- May 22, 2001 Contact: Shari Steele, EFF Executive Director ssteele@eff.org +1 415 436 9333 x103 Will Doherty, EFF Online Activist / Media Relations wild@eff.org +1 415 436 9333 x111 Medinex Drops Suit Against Anonymous Online Critics EFF Celebrates Another Successful Defense of Free Speech Rights Online San Francisco -- Medinex Systems, Inc., yesterday dismissed its suit intended to force disclosure of the identities of 14 John Does who participated on a Yahoo! message board devoted to discussions about the company. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), along with San Francisco law firm Farella, Braun & Martel, defended the right of these anonymous critics to express their views online without fear of arbitrary disclosure of their identity. "It's clear from the dismissal of its lawsuit that Medinex's primary goal was to identify and silence their critics," said Lauren Gelman, EFF's Director of Public Policy. "This is simply one more example of a company dropping a spurious lawsuit once EFF steps in to protect individuals right to speak anonymously." Medinex sued the John Does, identified by their screen names such as "zippershut," "awe2bad4mdnx," and "dotcommie2000" after they made remarks critical of the company on Yahoo! message boards. Medinex stock has dropped precipitously in the past few months and is allegedly on the verge of being dropped from the NASDAQ exchange for non-compliance with NASDAQ's $1 minimum bid price requirement. The critics, some self-identified as shareholders and employees of the company, stated their opinions about the mismanagement of the company and other factors leading to its financial difficulties. Medinex alleged defamation, tortious interference with business relationship and wrongful interference with a prospective economic advantage. The company then issued a subpoena to Yahoo! in California seeking the identities of their critics without first proving any illegal actions. A similar case entitled In re 2theMart.com, in which a Seattle court quashed a subpoena seeking the identity of Internet posters on an Infospace message board after a motion brought by the EFF and the ACLU of Washington, may have influenced Medinex's dismissal. "These people were simply expressing their opinions. Unfounded subpoenas such as these chill everyone's speech on the Internet. Since some of the Does claim to be employees, we are also worried that Medinex brought this suit in order to identify and retaliate against them, rather than because of any real defamation," said Robert Holtzapple of Farella, Braun and Martel, which is handling the matter pro bono. Background materials about this case are available on the EFF website at: eff.org Materials concerning the 2TheMart case are available at: eff.org About EFF: The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading civil liberties organization working to protect rights in the digital world. Founded in 1990, EFF actively encourages and challenges industry and government to support free expression, privacy, and openness in the information society. EFF is a member-supported organization and maintains one of the most linked-to Web sites in the world: eff.org - end - eff.org