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

To: Jeffrey S. Mitchell who wrote (11727)	4/25/2013 9:44:22 AM
From: Bear Down	Respond to of 12465

Jeff, I agree with you and would like to add that in the beginning, most of these suits were used to find out true identities of posters so the scammers could try and intimidate them. That intimidation came in many forms such as threatening phone calls, messages and in one case for me, a posting by the CEO of my address, color of my house and a plea to have disgruntled shareholders pay me a visit as he claimed it was my fault the stock went from $27 to less than a penny. (MLRE) Thankfully SI admin immediately removed the post and nothing was done. I think the turning point was the precedent set by ToTheMart.com vs John Does 1-100. that was the first case where a Judge quashed the subpoenas for information until at which time a plaintiff could prove a likelihood of prevailing and allowed the case to proceed with anonymous defendants.

To: Jeffrey S. Mitchell who wrote (11727)	4/25/2013 5:56:49 PM
From: SI Dave	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 12465

We proved conclusively by our legal challenges that an Internet connection alone was not good enough to establish jurisdiction. As I said, I could go on and on about other legal precedents we set and chronicled here. Here's hoping iHub can make their mark as well. Here's one mark in that regard; iHub was the first U.S. party to ever obtain a declaratory relief judgment invalidating a foreign libel judgment. Granted it was a Stipulated Judgment, since the other party recognized the outcome was inevitable, and litigating to a conclusion would have resulted in an award of legal fees as mandated by the statute. This outcome was made possible by the anti-libel tourism law, a/k/a the SPEECH Act, enacted in 2010. While libel reform is afoot in the UK and perhaps other commonwealth countries, which is a positive development indeed, it is unlikely they will ever come very close to mirroring U.S. law since they don't have a First Amendment, the CDA, or a Sullivan actual malice standard. There was another case recently dismissed in a Louisiana court, Treaty Energy Corporation v John Doe 1, et al., where the federal Magistrate Judge granted the motion to quash the subpoena which sought their account information from iHub. In its ruling, the Louisiana Federal Court found the California Federal Court's reasoning in the Eade case to be very persuasive. There's another one coming down the road; more on that as the story unfolds. ;-)

To: Jeffrey S. Mitchell who wrote (11727)	4/25/2013 9:38:31 PM
From: EL KABONG!!!	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 12465

Hi Jeff, If memory serves, I think you actually "discovered" the anti-SLAPP legislation in California that we used to take on Business Wire. I'd like to take credit for that, but I just can't recall that I actually did it. I remember doing all of the research on SLAPP, something like 59 or so websites at the time, but I cannot recall if I did it because someone else suggested it, or I did it on my own. So, if someone else has a better memory, they're more than welcome to any accolades. What I did do, and I do recall this, is to tell you how to defend the lawsuit without becoming poverty stricken yourself. I remember vividly how skeptical you were when I clued you in on homeowner's insurance, and I also remember how relieved you were when you found out it was true. I also remember a certain hedge fund manager, extremely popular on SI at the time, who was trying to use the same tactic to defend himself in a lawsuit, but he couldn't do that because he was a professional. Sometimes it's much better to be a hobbyist. EK!!!