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To: broken_cookie who wrote (3216)	5/1/1999 8:21:00 PM
From: zonkie	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 4128

It was similar to an Aprils fools joke Richard, no harm done as i'm sure Kowboy would tell you. There have been a lot of jokes and mistakes and misunderstandings here. And by the way, please don't be sarcastic. Some people here are honest gentlemen. z.........

To: broken_cookie who wrote (3216)	5/1/1999 8:25:00 PM
From: Spamboy	Respond to of 4128

I'm sure you're not any more gullible than I! :) Happy Trades...Kowboy

To: broken_cookie who wrote (3216)	5/1/1999 8:35:00 PM
From: Spamboy	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 4128

Howdy Richard! Please be careful of these people..... Business Wire Files Lawsuit Over Press Release Hoax San Francisco, April 27 (Bloomberg) -- Business Wire, a privately held service that distributes more than 1,000 press releases a day, has sued three people for putting a phony announcement out over the wire to publicize a fictitious Internet investment opportunity. San Francisco-based Business Wire said it filed the federal suit yesterday after Jeffrey Mitchell, William Ulrich, and Janice Shell gave the service a fraudulent press release. It announced that a company named WebNode had won an exclusive government contract to raise funds for the development of faster, more powerful Internet technology. Business Wire distributed the release to newspapers, online services, and trade publications worldwide April 1, before discovering that WebNode and the contract didn't exist. Nearly 2,000 people -- most of them investors -- responded to the news by supplying WebNode with personal information about themselves. ''It was a phony press release about a totally make-believe company, and it went totally beyond the bounds of an April Fool's joke,'' said Business Wire spokeswoman Cathy Baron Tamraz. ''We believe it was a malicious attempt to mislead and caused significant damage to Business Wire's reputation.'' Though the release was immediately pulled from Business Wire's Internet web site, it was posted on WebNode's web site along with Business Wire's trademark. Mitchell, Ulrich and Shell were able to distribute the release through Business Wire because they had become paid members of the service the same day, Tamraz said. Mitchell, a Westport Connecticut-based software developer, said he met Shell and Ulrich over the Internet. Mitchell; Shell, an art historian in Milan, Italy; and Ulrich, a San Francisco- based web site developer, share a common interest in stocks and decided to poke a little fun at investors, he said. ''The intent was to show how easy it is to fool people into thinking something is legitimate, I guess,'' Mitchell said in a telephone interview today. ''It was a commentary on this Internet mania, where everyone will buy anything with a .com after it. We thought what better way to show that than by selling the actual Internet itself.'' Business Wire's suit accuses Mitchell, Ulrich and Shell of violating federal and state trademark laws, and seeks unspecified damages and injunctive relief. It comes just two weeks after Bloomberg LP, the closely held parent of Bloomberg News, sued five people involved in a phony Internet posting announcing the takeover of PairGain Technologies Inc. in Tustin, California. Apr/27/ 99 17:10