I was always close to the attorneys at Goldman Sachs when I worked there. When you do computer security, you have to be. The times my filtering systems caught IP flowing out the door or sexually harassing e-mails always landed me in the General Counsel's office along with one of the ex-NYPD detectives the firm had on staff.
So it was with a great deal of dismay that I discovered that there's someone out there who has shorted Goldman Sachs stock and then created a blog which will help talk the stock down further. If you read the article I linked to last week, "Gripe Sites: Sue or Stew" [PDF] you know that it's very difficult to take down a critic's online site even if they use your trademark in the name. That is, unless they engage in: commerce, defamation, or trade secrets.
It's a mystery as to whether or not Goldman's counsel will be able to convince a judge that shorting Goldman's stock and then using their trademark in the domain name to talk it down constitutes commerce. If they can find a jurisdiction that buys that, then the dispute resolution process for domain names will tip in Goldman's favor.
As a first step, Goldman has made the cardinal mistake of providing publicity to a critic by sending a toothless Cease and Desist letter, which only gave him more ammunition in his fight to get attention. This is something you're NEVER, EVER, supposed to do.
Worse, is that they're dealing with an experienced hand. Mike Morgan, the blogger in question, previously ran a website "www.defective-homes.net" that criticized shoddy workmanship in homes built by Lennar Corp. Morgan says he has learned from that experience in shaping his campaign against Goldman Sachs. Morgan told the UK Telegraph, "I've had advice from some of the best intellectual property lawyers, and I know exactly what I can and can't do. We're not going to back down from this."
For now, check out the short-seller's website at www.goldmansachs666.com, and make sure everyone you know at a publicly traded company gets a copy of my newsletter. This technique is going to get copied pretty handily unless someone puts a stop to it.
PS And if you know anyone at Goldmans Sachs Legal dept, or their outside counsel Chadbourne and Parke, tell them to stop giving quotes to the press on this topic. Every time they talk about their case against Morgan, they drive people to his website.
Disclosure: I have no financial interest in Goldman Sachs or any of its subsidiaries.
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