Lion Energy wins order against Stockhouse poster
2009-12-14 14:32 ET - Street Wire
by Mike Caswell
LionEnergy Corp. has secured a court order against Stockhouse PublishingLtd., directing it to reveal the IP address of a bulletin board posternamed CashEagle. Lion said that CashEagle authored a series ofdefamatory posts about the company, calling management a "group ofclowns" who earn exaggerated salaries, among other things.
Theorder, obtained on Dec. 10, 2009, in the Supreme Court of BritishColumbia, directs Stockhouse to reveal the e-mail address, IP addressor any other information that could identify CashEagle. The judge alsoinstructed Lion Energy to pay any reasonable costs that Stockhouseincurs in retrieving and delivering the information.
Lion Energy's petition
LionEnergy secured the order one day after it filed a petition at theVancouver courthouse against Stockhouse. The petition stated that Lionhad asked Stockhouse to disclose any information to help identifyCashEagle in November, 2009. Stockhouse's senior editor, KeriKorteling, replied that Stockhouse would not provide any suchinformation without a court order.
The petitioncontains quotes from many of CashEagle's posts, which began on Oct. 22,2008, and ended on Nov. 17, 2009. Lion Energy claims that they aredefamatory of both the company and its chief executive officer, BrianThurston. One, dated April 20, 2009, stated, "That does not encourageme to put my trust and money with these guys ... sometimes its betterto have crooks in this rather than IDIOTS." Another the same dayclaimed that Mr. Thurston had acquired a property formerly owned byBre-X Minerals Ltd., and stated, "This further speaks to the truegenius of Thurston who has taken a small time Potash player into thebig leagues by securing the rights to this 'elephant' gold deposit."
Furthermessages were directed at Mr. Thurston. One, dated May 8, 2009, saidMr. Thurston was simply concerned with collecting a pay cheque. Itcontinued, stating, "Trusting Thurston has resulted in this companiescash position to go from $28M last summer to $21M now with nothing toshow for it ... except some big payments to managements and certainconsultants." Another on May 15, 2009, said, "I wish these f00kerswould do their jobs and something meaningful for the stock price."
Accordingto the petition, the final post came on Nov. 17, 2009, when CashEaglewrote that Mr. Thurston "was approached by a pretty blonde in a tightskirt and tall boots" who "educated Mr. Thurston on the amazing profitsto be made in the pharmaceutical industry," and as a result, LionEnergy "will be changing its name to DimeBag Pharmaceuticals."
The petition was filed on Lion Energy's behalf by Daniel Reid of Harper Grey LLP.
Prior suits against Stockhouse posters
Stockhouseposters have faced legal action over forum postings many times in thepast. One such lawsuit, filed on Sept. 1, 2009, by Farallon MiningLtd., was against an Australian man, David St. Eloi. Farallon claimedthat Mr. St. Eloi authored posts that accused the company's president,Dick Whittington, of stealing a property and of manipulating the stock.Mr. St. Eloi has not responded to the suit.
Farallonfiled a petition against another Stockhouse poster named Stonecut onOct. 6, 2009. Farallon sought and received an order requiringStockhouse to provide Stonecut's IP address. Farallon then sought, andreceived, an order directing Shaw Communications Inc. to identify theowner of that address. The company has not yet identified the poster incourt filings.
While many Internet libel cases neveradvance beyond the initial lawsuit, some do go to trial. One well-knowncase is the suit that Barrick Gold Corp. launched against a NorthVancouver man, Jorge Lopehandia, on Oct. 31, 2002. In posts on YahooFinance and elsewhere, Mr. Lopehandia claimed that the company did notown its Pascua Lama property in Chile, and that the company hadmanipulated the price of gold to its advantage. The Ontario Court ofAppeal ultimately found that Mr. Lopehandia had libelled Barrick, andordered him to pay $125,000 to the company. Mr. Lopehandia neverdefended the case, and it is not known if he paid the judgment.