Investment firm Stratton Oakmont Inc is suing the IBM Corp-Sears, Roebuck & Co on-line service provider Prodigy Services Co, for negligence in a lawsuit that could have serious ramifications for the on-line industry, the Wall Street Journal reports. Stratton Oakmont is already suing Prodigy for libel in a $200m lawsuit arising from a message that appeared on the service accusing the company of fraud. In the original suit, David Lusby, a former Prodigy employee, was named as a co-defendent, as the message appeared to have come from his account but Jacob Zamansky, a lawyer for Stratton Oakmont, said Lusby has been dropped from the suit because someone else had used his account to post the message. Zamansky, a partner at Finkelstein, Bruckman, Wohl, Most & Rothman, said that by enabling Lusby’s account number to be used in this unauthorised manner, Prodigy acted negligently. Prodigy said his statements were unfounded. At issue in the libel claim is whether the computer on-line service is viewed as a newspaper, responsible for its editorial content, or as a telephone carrier or bookstore, and therefore not responsible for content. Legal experts are closely tracking the case, saying it could set a precedent for the on-line industry. If Stratton Oakmont is successful with its suit, the decision may force on-line services to take preventive measures to protect themselves against such claims. If unsuccessful, companies or individuals defamed on line may be without a legal precedent for recourse.
