EFF goes to bat for Stokklerk
p2pnet news view Freedom | P2P:- Earlier this year Yahoo user ’stokklerk’ did a criticised USA Technologies and its CEO George Jensen, Jr, in a Yahoo post.
Stokklerk complained about “plummeting stock prices, high compensation rates for executives, and consistent lack of profitability,” says the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation), noting, “Another anonymous poster had similar complaints”.
When the EFF asked a federal judge to “quash a baseless subpoena aimed” at outing the anonymous online critic, the company responded with a suit alleging the “statements violated federal securities regulations because they were part of a ’scheme’ for the authors to ‘enrich themselves through undisclosed manipulative trading tactics’,” says the foundation.
USA Technologies alleged the online posts were defamatory and demanded the critics’ identities, says EFF attorney Matt Zimmerman.
“The First Amendment protects the right to speak anonymously, especially about matters of public concern such as the performance of management of publicly traded companies,” says the EFF.
A hearing is set for Friday.
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EFF – EFF Fights for Anonymity for Online Critic in Friday Hearing, December 15, 2009
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December 16th, 2009 at 2:05 am
If it is an attempt to manipulate stock prices by spreading lies, then he should lose his anonymity and prosecuted. Vultures use tricks like that to defraud everyone else out of their money far too often.
However, if what he says is true or he’s not planning to profit from his actions, then I hope the judge throws the plaintiff out on his ass.