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05.08.07
Blogger Anti-SLAPP Case Angers Munchkin Man
 By Jason Lee Miller
That "Left," the code-named blogger behind StockLemon.com (which is now CitronResearch) doesn't have many friends in the financial world isn't what's important. What is important that Left becomes the first blogger to be protected by Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP) laws, at least in California. And The Munchkin Man (to be discussed later) isn't happy.
Though bloggers are the air guitarists of journalism (careful, the author makes several good points in that article before wigging out with proposed retribution at the end), Left proves that a blog can get you in a lot of trouble.
StockLemon's been sued by lots of people for defamation and libel after declaring certain penny stocks bad investments. It would seem Wall Street pays close attention to StockLemon, as the maligned OTCs plunge in value shortly after a scathing review.
The Munchkin Man (seriously), who likes to speak of The Munchkin Man in third person and doesn't like to use The Munchkin Man's repertoire of pronouns, beseeches The Munchkin Man's audience to take action against StockLemon and boycott the website's advertisers.
The Munchkin Man (to get more information on whom this is, you had to register, and I just didn't care that much) calls Left's claims "outright lies" and accuses, along with the Wall Street Digest, of manipulating stock prices through the blog and then short-selling them for profit.
"The Munchkin Man comes before you early this morning with a very heavy heart and a very serious message," The Munchkin Man writes. "The Munchkin Man hates to say this, but if and until the Stocklemon.com website is shut down, you should probably bookmark it and check it every morning before the markets
open."
See what you've done. The Munchkin Man's angry, and you wouldn't like The Munchkin Man when The Munchkin Man's angry.
Anyway, as you can tell, the history and details of the rifts StockLemon has caused over the years aren't necessary for the anti-SLAPP protection news. They're just funny.
As blawger (law blogger) Eric Goldman points out, "this is one of the first case explicitly holding that a blogger is protected by anti-SLAPP laws. Anti-SLAPP laws, according to Wikipedia, are present in 24 states, but are not on the federal level.
A SLAPP suit, the article says, "is a form of litigation filed by
a large organization or in some cases an individual plaintiff, to intimidate and silence a less powerful critic by so severely burdening them with the cost of a legal defense that they abandon their criticism."
A California court through out GTX Global Corp. under anti-SLAPP objections filed by StockLemon. Whether Left is guilty of short-selling won't come out of this case, as the suit alleged libel and defamation. GTX was unable to produce evidence that StockLemon's statements were false, and will have to pay Left's legal fees.
About the Author:
Jason L. Miller is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business.
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