Business Wire Settles Lawsuit for Fraud and Trademark Violations.SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 7, 1999-- Business Wire received a favorable out-of-court settlement An agreement reached between the parties in a pending lawsuit that resolves the dispute to their mutual satisfaction and occurs without judicial intervention, supervision, or approval. in its federal lawsuit against a company that used Business Wire's distribution services to publicize a false investment opportunity, the company announced today. The lawsuit was filed against individuals purporting to represent a phony company called "Webnode," and covered the harassment of Business Wire by the company. It also included alleged violations of federal and state trademark laws, fraud, breach of contract, and defamation and conspiracy. The subsequent settlement represents a benchmark event in terms of an Internet communication taking excessive liberties with false and misleading news copy. "We are pleased with the monetary settlement that we obtained, as well as the other terms of the settlement, which prohibit defendants from engaging in such activity in the future," said Lorry Lokey, president and founder of Business Wire. "We hope that the positive outcome of this lawsuit sends a clear message that the conscious decision to disseminate untrue information over Business Wire will not be tolerated and that serious penalties will be imposed upon the perpetrators." The lawsuit revealed that the three defendants, Jeffrey Mitchell, William Mitchell, William (Billy Mitchell), 1879–1936, American army officer and pilot, b. Nice, France. He enlisted (1898) in the U.S. army in the Spanish-American War and received a commission in the regular army in 1901, serving with the signal corps. Ulrich and Janice Shell, consciously submitted a false news release to Business Wire on behalf of "Webnode." The phony news release announced that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) had granted Webnode an exclusive contract to raise funding for the Next Generation Internet See Internet2. (NGI (Next Generation Internet) A project of the U.S. government for researching high-speed network technologies for use by federal agencies. See Internet2. ). Although the NGI is a bona fide [Latin, In good faith.] Honest; genuine; actual; authentic; acting without the intention of defrauding. A bona fide purchaser is one who purchases property for a valuable consideration that is inducement for entering into a contract and without suspicion of being project, Webnode - and its supposed contract with the government was revealed as a sham. Based on the defendants' assurances that the news release was genuine, Business Wire distributed the news of Webnode's purported DOE contract over its wire service and posted it on the BusinessWire.com Web site. Upon further independent investigation conducted by Business Wire, the company discovered that the Webnode news release was a hoax and it was immediately pulled from its wire and was withdrawn from its Web site. Business Wire also notified recipients of its wire service to disregard the announcement and demanded that the defendants remove the Business Wire mark from all copies of the news release, which was posted on Webnode's Web site. "This case is much like the suit that Bloomberg brought against Gary Hoke hoke tr.v. hoked, hok·ing, hokes Slang To give an impressive but artificial, false, or deceptive quality to: hoked up some phony allegations. and four other individuals for posting a phony Bloomberg news story on a Web site about PairGain Technologies, Inc. "To protect its trademark and its good name, Bloomberg sued those individuals for trademark infringement, unfair competition and misappropriation misappropriation n. the intentional, illegal use of the property or funds of another person for one's own use or other unauthorized purpose, particularly by a public official, a trustee of a trust, an executor or administrator of a dead person's estate, or by any , much like Business Wire's suit against these Webnode individuals. The suit against Hoke was settled and included a permanent injunction permanent injunction n. a final order of a court that a person or entity refrain from certain activities permanently or take certain actions (usually to correct a nuisance) until completed. . "In bringing action against these reckless individuals, Business Wire acted affirmatively to protect our company's integrity, and more importantly, the integrity of the information that we deliver to our members. This suit was brought not only for Business Wire's relief, but for the benefit of all companies in the communications field," concluded Lokey. About Business Wire Business Wire is the leading source of news on major U.S. corporations, including Fortune 1000 and NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on companies. The company electronically disseminates full-text news releases for public and investor relations Investor relations The process by which the corporation communicates with its investors. professionals simultaneously to the news media, the Internet, online services and databases, and the worldwide investment community. Business Wire is on the cutting edge of communications technology and its Web site (www.businesswire.com), recognized as the premier newswire Internet site, is a pioneer in shaping the future of the interactive use of the Internet. The company has 26 domestic offices and an international hub in Brussels. |
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