DD Support Board and Research Team

[Arthur]

Judge rules: "puffery" is no crime !!!

Judge says EA executives committed “puffery,” not securities fraud
Statements about Battlefield 4 launch were "corporate optimism, or puffery."

A federal judge has dismissed a proposed securities fraud class action lawsuit connected to Electronic Arts' bungled rollout of the popular Battlefield 4 video game.
EA and several top executives were sued in December and were accused of duping investors with their public statements and concealing issues with the first-person shooter game. The suit claimed executives were painting too rosy of a picture surrounding what ultimately would be Battlefield 4's disastrous debut on various gaming consoles beginning last October, including the next-generation Xbox One.

But US District Judge Susan Illston of San Francisco said their comments about EA and the first-person shooter game were essentially protected corporate speak.

"The Court agrees with defendants that all of the purported misstatements are inactionable statements of opinion, corporate optimism, or puffery," Illston ruled [PDF] Monday.

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See, hype is totally legal!