The companies running the message boards tend to oblige those who complain. In some cases they have removed posters who masquerade as company officials. John Place, Yahoo's general counsel, says his company has complied with subpoenas in the past and provided names as requested. Silicon Investor has answered about five or six requests for posters' names in the past three years in cases where subpoenas were issued. The lawsuits seem to have curtailed undesirable postings.
Companies say the lawsuits are about accountability.
Some concede the suits may have a chilling effect on expression, but say such an effect may be worth it because people have been posting comments on the Internet that they would not have dared to publish in more traditional mediums. Others maintain that message-board posters, like newspaper publishers, need to answer for the deliberate posting of false information. This lawsuit doesn't stifle free speech. But Asensio, the defendant in the suit, sees an attempt to silence investors who have legitimate concerns. The battle of the message boards is escalating.