Poor Spelling, Grammar Help Defendant in Web Libel Suit
By GREGORY ZUCKERMAN
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
If you're going to trash someone on an Internet message board, it pays to use bad punctuation.
Just over a week ago, a U.S. federal judge in California ruled that an anonymous investor who had been lashing out at a hedge-fund manager didn't libel the executive or his firm, Rocker Partners LP, in part because the investor used poor grammar and spelling in his postings.
Judge Charles Breyer said in his decision that the investor's haphazard writing style made it unlikely that any Yahoo Inc. readers who saw the postings would take them seriously. As a result, the judge said Yahoo isn't required to hand over the true name of the investor, who used the screen name "harry," to Rocker or Mark Cohodes, the executive targeted by the online postings, likely ending their quest to pursue their case.
"The messages are replete with grammar and spelling errors; most posters do not even use capital letters," Judge Breyer wrote. "Many of the messages are vulgar and offensive and filled with hyperbole."
The judge also noted that Mr. Cohodes did some mudslinging of his own, at one point telling "harry": "DISRESPECT ... EVERYONE GETS WHAT THEY DESERVE...MAY YOU EAT CAT FOOD UNDER A BRIDGE. You lowlifes."
On the one hand, Judge Breyer's ruling likely will be met with cackles from message-board denizens, known for their lax spelling and aggressive use of abbreviations, capitalizations and punctuation tricks. But the ruling nevertheless could send a serious message about what is off-limits on the Web. "The court is not ruling a person cannot commit libel on the Internet," wrote Judge Breyer, who is the brother of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. But the context of the postings by "harry" make it unlikely that "a reasonable reader" would take them seriously, Judge Breyer wrote.
The judge also ruled that "harry" didn't use enough specificity when he went after Mr. Cohodes's firm in their online arguments about a stock, Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. "Harry" was bullish on the stock, but Mr. Cohodes posted warnings about the company and its management. The pair soon began insulting each other's writing style, favorite sports teams and appearance. "Harry" wrote in a posting that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission was "sniffing around" Rocker Partners, but the judge ruled that the phrase was too vague to be fodder for a lawsuit. "What does 'sniffing around' mean?" the judged asked rhetorically. As such, it couldn't be a libelous statement.
So what did "harry" write that so offended the judge's English-grammar sensibilities?
One passage Judge Breyer cites includes a string of small errors: "Looks like there is trouble brewing at rocker partners," "harry" wrote, deleting the capitalization in the hedge fund's name. The posting went on: "Well its not as if I did not warn cohodes that people were responding to my calls and letters," leaving out an apostrophe in "it's," failing to capitalize Cohodes' name and omitting a comma after "well." In another posting cited by the judge, "harry" wrote: "there is a lot more two it. ITS BASIC MANIPULATION 101." Sure, these mistakes are quite common in online discussions, but that didn't seem to sway the judge.
Judge Breyer didn't respond to a telephone call requesting comment.
Referring to Rocker Partners, Solomon Wollack, a lawyer representing "harry," said: "We hope they got the message and will go away." He added, "I hope this sends a message to Rocker and others like them that would try to use their considerable economic muscle to stifle criticism."
As for "harry," he says in an interview that he doesn't take the judge's critique of his writing style personally. "I'm not insulted at all, I just bang things out, and no one gets any punctuation and spelling right," he says. Internet message boards are "almost like a bunch of drunks arguing in a bar. The language is salty; I just want the stock to move, I don't care about the grammar."
Mr. Cohodes shows no signs of backing off his battle with "harry." As recently as early this month, Mr. Cohodes e-mailed him again, sending a copy of a new stock report on Take-Two.
Although Mr. Cohodes didn't indicate an interest in appealing the ruling, he might have a strong case: At one point in his ruling, Judge Breyer misspelled Mr. Cohodes's name, calling him "Mark Chodes."
Write to Gregory Zuckerman at gregory.zuckerman@wsj.com
Updated June 13, 2003
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