CyberSmear Campaigns: Internet Defamation and the Anonymous Battleground 27 th Annual Media Law Conference CyberSmear Campaigns: Internet Defamation and

CyberSmear Campaigns: CyberSmear Campaigns: Internet Defamation and Internet Defamation and

the Anonymous the Anonymous BattlegroundBattleground

2727thth Annual Media Law Conference Annual Media Law Conference

Bruce D. Fischman, Esq.Fischman, Harvey & Dutton, P.A.

www.fhdlaw.com

Fischman, Harvey & Dutton, P.A. Fischman, Harvey & Dutton, P.A. 2727thth Annual Media Annual Media

Law ConferenceLaw Conference

A big $ problem for public A big $ problem for public companiescompanies

Internet defamation is a cyber-crime that can cause more damage than computer viruses and Internet fraud combined.

Statistically, online attacks against companies, their products and officers account for damages in the billions of dollars annually.



Message BoardMessage BoardAttacksAttacks

Message board posters attack companies on

boards such as: Yahoo Finance Raging Bull Motley Fool Silicon Investor Other Investment Websites/Newsgroups



Increase in Traffic to Increase in Traffic to Message BoardsMessage Boards

Message board traffic has increased exponentially

the past few years with the explosive growth of the

Internet. There is a huge susceptible audience for

these online attacks: Yahoo has over 192 million registered users Raging Bull has over 4.4 million registered users Silicon Investor serves 2 million users a month Motley Fool serves millions of investors monthly





Finding John DoeFinding John Doe

The first challenge facing counsel is to find out who authored the message.

Methods used are cyber fingerprinting and John Doe lawsuits.

Counsel must also profile the motivation of the attacker since your client’s response may be guided by those motives



Profiles of The anonymous Profiles of The anonymous Online AttackersOnline Attackers

Disgruntled current or ex-employees of BestWare

Disgruntled shareholders CyberCriminal afraid of implications of

BestWare’s program hitting the market Short sellers of BestWare’s stock Employees/paid bashers from rival software

companies Personal vendetta against company or

executives Individual searching for attention



Actual Examples of Actual Examples of CyberDefamationCyberDefamation

CEO had criminal record of child molestation CEO was busted in prostitution sting CEO and executives were members of Mafia

crime family Poster was having an affair with CEO’s wife Company’s product killed several people CEO had unofficially resigned (stock dropped

20% over following 48 hours) Company was declaring bankruptcy next

week



Increase in Sophistication Increase in Sophistication of Attacksof Attacks

Online bashers are becoming increasingly more sophisticated

in the nature of their attacks. Techniques employed by these

individuals include: Multiple aliases with slightly differing opinions that

‘talk’ to each other Using securities terminology and well-researched

information to lend legitimacy Claiming inside information Adopting a neutral or slightly positive attitude for

credibility, then ‘changing their mind’



Companies Victimized by Companies Victimized by CyberDefamationCyberDefamation

AnswerThink Amway Bigsmart.com Credit Suisse First Boston E*Trade Fruit of the Loom HealthSouth Hvide Marine Integrated Health

Services LaserVision Centers Lehman Bros

MGM Lucent New York Stock

Exchange Osage Owens Corning PhyCor Raytheon Rite Aid Spacelabs Viad Corp. Weirton Steel



SolutionsSolutions

Employee Internet Policy – Counsel should recommend policies governing utilization of the Internet and intranet both on and off premises.

Preparing for the Attack – Clients should monitor Internet forums for online attacks.

Public Response – Due to strict securities laws, a public response to the attack should be conducted only under the supervision of counsel.

Identifying the Anonymous Poster – Use cyberfingerprinting or subpoenas.

Be realistic, not idealistic in dealing with ISPs Legal Action – Amend John Doe suit to name the

individual defamer. Final resolution by trial or settlement.



Modification of CDA neededModification of CDA needed

Currently, the service providers and portals have almost absolute immunity for the messages posted by others.

Don’t sue Yahoo! or AOL for the messages published by others on their boards - it’s a waste of time.

Legislative change is needed to require them to preserve identifying data about the publishers and avoid information dumping.



Fischman,Fischman,Harvey, &Harvey, &

Dutton, P.A.Dutton, P.A.

Attorneys @ LawAttorneys @ Law

www.fhdlaw.comwww.fhdlaw.com

Documents

CyberSmear Campaigns: Internet Defamation and the Anonymous Battleground 27 th Annual Media Law Conference CyberSmear Campaigns: Internet Defamation and