Pro Firm Threats ?

Don Bright · Aug 26, 2002

I agree with the "playing nice" part of the above post....and I really wish more traders and firms would embrace that philosophy....

"Peace and Love'....

Don

sdtrader · Aug 26, 2002

rockyourworld.
I agree with most of your comments above. I do wish to comment that the same holds true for the firm. If they play nice by releasing monies and U-5's in a timely manner and move on then the firm and trader should have no reason at all to air dirty laundry in an open forum.
For every action there is always a reaction.

esc_trader · Aug 26, 2002

Isn't this the flip side of this coin - a firm does whatever they want to a LLC member/trader (including illegally or in breach of contract), and there is no recourse for the trader.

If you don't like it, tough, we can out spend you on a legal case, and by the way, don't say anything about us on a message board (even if it's true), we will bury you.

Ever seen "The Insider"?

hedgez · Aug 26, 2002

Originally posted by RockYourWorld
Be careful! I have been hearing about stuff like this over the last few years, there have been a lot of cases where an employee will leave a company then go to a message board and trash the company that he/she left, and gets sued by the company for damaging their reputation, even in cases where the ex-employee may be telling the truth. Law goes a lot by precedence, and the precedence is that the companies have been winning 6 to 7-figure settlements, even when people online thought they were justified and telling the truth. Don't forget that usually companies have a lot more money than you do in case the court battle rages on for years, as they mostly do.

The problem is, even if you may be revealing the truth, if you damage an individuals reputaion damages are a lot less than if you damage a company's reputation. Think a lot about what you GAIN out of doing such a thing versus the probable downside.

I have put a few links to some articles I could find about it, I have read about some others that I can't find, but all of them have come out badly for the individual that I have seen. There are some biggies that I have been trying to find, I am sure others saw them too when they happened.

Also, be even more careful if you now trade for a competitor. It takes the case in a different direction when the company can claim you are doing this because you are now a competitor.

http://www.gigalaw.com/articles/2001-all/hollander-2001-03-all.html

"Similarly, if the offender is not necessarily an employee but instead, perhaps, a competitor, other available theories include interference with business relations."

http://www-ec.njit.edu/~walshd/001215CYBERLAW.html

"The case also serves as an important reminder, experts said, that the rules of libel apply online much as they do in the world of newspapers and magazines. "

http://www.fool.com/news/foth/2000/foth000714.htm

"Anyway, in response to the news of the lawsuit, here at Fool HQ we've received a few requests for comments on "what this all means to our First Amendment rights and the future of message board discussions." If you want to learn how this affects you, here's the three word summary: Play nice, kids."

This next one says that any defamatory comments that appear here and are not removed by Elite could actually put them in jeapordy of being sued for negligence:

http://www.mbendi.co.za/werksmns/net_law/guide03.htm#UStates

"The difficulty created by defamation cases for companies such as service providers, or even companies that have a home page with a bulletin board, is that by exercising any form of responsibility or regulation of the content published on their web page or bulletin board, they risk being sued for defamation.

If, however, they could have had the ability to regulate what was published and decide to do nothing, they could also be sued for negligence for failing to maintain some form of security procedures or editing control. Until further court decisions both in South Africa and the United States are made, the position of a service provider and companies hosting bulletin boards on their web page is an invidious one.

Be aware that defamatory statements on the Internet, even in casual e-mails, could attract liability for defamation."

There are dozens and dozens of cases like this. I love to read the fun stuff that gets posted just as much as the next guy, and would love to have a ringside seat to a heavyweight bout, but I myself would not rush into saying anything at all about a company no matter how justified you may feel because defending a lawsuit is an expensive enterprise. You may have noticed in some of those articles how they say that with a court order Elite and your ISP would be required to reveal who you are for purposes of a lawsuit, so anonymity doesn't spare you.

Hope this helps your decision. If I were you I would play nice.
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now this sounds like a threat!

Beer Man · Aug 26, 2002

are made by people who are fearful of losing good people
the fact is rates are going down down down.....and we have no loyaly to firms because they dont deserve any......we will all be paying .005 or less a year from now....and the firm owners can stick it up their back sides

2points · Aug 26, 2002

Beer man brings up a good point...These firms that threaten their traders are fearful of losing their bread and butter. They are also fearful of their reputation and how they look to all of us in the business and those looking for a solid firm to work for.

Also, "Rock your world" brings up a good point that these sleezy firms will look to sue you if you use your "freedom of speech" right because they don't want to be exposed on a forum like Elite Trader. Don't worry "Rock your world" this business is small and word of mouth travels faster than the internet. But, thanks for the advice.

Beer Man · Aug 26, 2002

tell the greedy bastard to go choke his chicken

sempai · Aug 26, 2002

Boy, am I glad I didn't join a prop firm! I was looking into signing up with a local firm a while back, but didn't feel too comfortable with the whole thing. I tried reading the contract, and couldn't understand it - if you need to hire a lawyer just to understand the basics of what it's saying, something's wrong.

I trade the e-minis anyway, and felt it would be too tough to switch back over to trading stocks again.

That was before I found ET and started reading all the threads about prop firms. I'm still struggling, but I don't think I'd be any better off if I signed up...just angry and disillusioned. Whew!

Turlo · Aug 26, 2002

The prop. firms that operate like this are in the minority. I would not group all prop. firms together. Believe it or not there are some good operations out there. But like any thing few bad apples ruin the flavor of the punch...........

JWKirkland · Aug 26, 2002

Originally posted by candletrader404
I am going to take the advice of JEM above and speak to an attorney. If I get the go ahead, I am going to come forward with everything that has transpired because I have done nothing wrong.

How would you handle this, expose or not?
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I would not post anything more, "RockYourWorld" has carefully placed his own threat out there.