RE: RE: FC owes you money
Hopefully the link shows up this time. If this is true then FC owes money to all the the shareholders who bought in at $5.00 and under because of all his pumping and buy recomendations. This Judge is an adiot.
Farallon wins $40,000 defamation award against Arnold
Ticker Symbol: C:FAN
Farallon wins $40,000 defamation award against Arnold
Farallon Mining Ltd (C:FAN)
Shares Issued 495,038,782
Tuesday November 15 2011 - Street Wire
by Mike Caswell
Farallon Mining Ltd. has won a $40,000 defamation decision in the Supreme Court of British Columbia against Stockhouse poster Ronald Arnold, also known as "Stonecut." In a judgment handed down on Thursday, Nov. 10, Justice Arne Silverman has found that postings by Mr. Arnold could have caused substantial economic damage to Farallon. One of his messages accused the company of improperly acquiring its Campo Morado property in Mexico while another referred to management as "a bunch of crooks."
Farallon had sought damages of $85,000, arguing that Mr. Arnold inflicted a serious blow to its reputation with his accusations over Campo Morado. He posted the material on Stockhouse, a public forum that attracted both existing and potential investors. In addition, he lied when the company initially asked him if he had written the posts, and only admitted to them after Farallon had traced their source to Internet service in his wife's name.
The award against Mr. Arnold comes 18 months after Farallon and its former management company, Hunter Dickinson Inc., won a $425,000 defamation suit against another Stockhouse poster, Alberta resident Robert Butler. Using the alias "BTaffy," Mr. Butler wrote that Hunter Dickinson had bribed officials in Mexico in connection with the acquisition of Campo Morado. He also called Hunter Dickinson's president, Ronald Thiessen, a "proven and continual liar." A judge found that there was no evidence Mr. Butler's posts were true and ordered him to pay damages to Farallon, Hunter Dickinson and Mr. Thiessen.
Justice Silverman's decision
The case against Mr. Arnold came before Justice Silverman for a one-day hearing on Sept. 16, 2011, to determine damages. (Mr. Arnold had previously agreed to accept liability for the posts, leaving damages as the only issue.) The dispute, as set out by the judge, began in 2009 when Farallon discovered a series of defamatory posts about the company and its 1995 acquisition of Campo Morado, including some Mr. Arnold had written.
The posts by Mr. Arnold referred to legal battles in Mexico between Farallon and the previous owner of Campo Morado, a man named David Hermiston. They stated that the Supreme Court of Mexico had determined that Mr. Hermiston was the rightful owner of Campo Morado and that his rights were "grossly violated." One stated that Pedro Ochoa, a Mexican lawyer who had worked on the transfer of the property, was facing fraud charges for forgery. It read, "It is about the very solid facts surrounding Hermiston's legal representatives back in the day when they, his lawyers, forged documents which in effect, provided a transfer of Hermiston's interest and title in Campo Morado, over to Farallon." The posts culminated with one that purportedly defined Farallon. It read, "fah-rah-lon: what a bun chofk roo ks."
Farallon suspected that Mr. Arnold was behind the posts, and its lawyer wrote to him to query about them. The judge found that Mr. Arnold lied in response. He denied that he was the author, and continued to deny it until Farallon obtained an IP address for the poster from Stockhouse. Farallon used that address identify his wife as the owner of the account associated with that address. Farallon submitted that Mr. Arnold, by lying, demonstrated that he knew his posts were untrue and defamatory.
Mr. Arnold's defence, as summarized by the judge, was that Farallon overreacted by suing him for the remarks. He said that the company, perhaps frustrated by inaccurate postings, selected him, a repair shop owner, as somebody to make an example of. He further argued that the defamatory statements were not serious, and that the company suffered no damage to its reputation or any economic loss.
He also pointed to a letter of apology that he sent to the company. The letter, which accompanied an offer to donate $5,000 in Farallon's name to the Canadian Red Cross to settle the case, stated, "I wish to offer my most sincere apologies to your client, and its senior management, for all defamatory remarks, comments or statements attributable to me in the postings placed on the Stockhouse Bullboard." Mr. Arnold argued that the apology should be given some consideration on the issue of damages.
Justice Silverman rejected much of Mr. Arnold's argument, finding that the company suffered at least some damage to its reputation. He acknowledged that it is very difficult to quantify that damage, but nonetheless found that the statements Mr. Arnold made were serious. Even if some readers may have considered the posts in the context of a "forum for blowhards and gossips," others may have believed them outright. There also remained the possibility that people would avoid the company simply because of the risk associated with gossip.
The judge also found that he could only give Mr. Arnold's apology limited weight, as he only sent it to Farallon's lawyer and did not post it on Stockhouse.
In addition to the $40,000 general damages award, the judge entered an injunction barring future postings defamatory of Farallon. He rejected the company's request for $10,000 in punitive damages, finding that Mr. Arnold was already in a dire financial situation and that there was no need to deter him further.
With the end of Mr. Arnold's case, Farallon has two remaining suits against Stockhouse posters. One is against Australian Poker player David St. Eloi, who accused the company of stealing Campo Morado. The other is Arizona resident Tim Watt, who authored similar posts. Both men deny any wrongdoing, and are awaiting trial.
Farallon no longer trades, the company having been taken over by Belgian mining giant Nyrstar N.V. in a $480-million deal