Chatroom posters to be sued and outed

Following lawsuit to discover identities

By Linda Harrison, 9th April 2001

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San Diego semiconductor outfit MeltroniX aims to name and shame a bunch of surfers it claims posted defamatory statements about the company in its Internet chat room.

The company said that, as the result of filing a lawsuit, it had discovered the identities of anonymous posters that repeatedly stuck "vicious, defamatory and damaging" messages on the Raging Bull MeltroniX chat room.

MeltroniX now wants financial and punitive damages from those responsible - including a former MeltroniX employee and individuals who are believed to have ties with a privately held San Diego rival, it said.

The posters "have masqueraded as investors and have repeatedly denied having been former employees or having been motivated by anything other than investor motivated commentary," according to a MeltroniX statement.

In addition, they were "using anonymity as a means to attack the company and its management for personal and financial reasons."

"The posters may have been stating incorrect and or misleading information about the company or providing confidential information that, when taken out of context could negatively impact the investment value of the company."

It added that the postings included "extremely personal attacks" that mixed fact with speculation and deliberately damaged the management's professional reputation.

It also warned that it believed the lawsuit, and identities of the posters, "are a matter of public record".

MeltroniX said it "believes in the value of the chat room forum," but vowed to continue to monitor the forums to ensure that "responsible posting" continued. ®