InvestorsHub Refused to Protect Investors
14. That upon InvestorsHub being placed on notice of the wrongful conduct of its MODERATORS/AGENTS, Pennymachine and Magu, InvestorsHub did REFUSE to remove or restrict their access to the DRWN forum, which allowed them to continue their stock and shareholder manipulation scheme in violation of InvestorsHub’s user and moderator terms.
15. That when the Administrator of InvestorsHub, Mr. David Lawrence, was personally placed on written notice of Pennymachine and Magu’s stock and shareholder manipulation scheme within the DRWN forum on August 17, 2012, Mr. Lawrence stated in writing quote “We [are] not interested in your “notice” or opinions about other users” unquote.
16. That InvestorsHub conspired with Pennymachine and Muga to manipulate the stock price and shareholders within the DRWN forum when it appointed Pennymachine and Muga as MODERATORS/AGENTS of the DRWN forum, which evoked investor trust, and then it allowed Pennymachine and Muga to violate the user and moderator terms while subjecting investors to a violation of those same terms. e.g. InvestorsHub gave Pennymachine and Muga the ability to DELETE investor posts and to make their own posts within the DRWN forum, which created a conflict of interest with opposing investor opinions. Pennymachine and Muga then used that power and trust to make multiple false posts and to delete negative posts about DRWN for the purpose of fooling investors that DRWN was a valuable stock verging on an “epic breakout”. When investors would post a complaint on the DRWN forum concerning Pennymachine and Muga engaging in a stock and shareholder manipulation scheme with the DRWN stock, InvestorsHub would hold the investors in violation of the user terms and it would SUSPEND the investors’ posting privileges within all the forums except the forum labeled “JAIL”. When these investors complained directly to InvestorsHub about Pennymachine and Muga engaging in a stock and shareholder manipulation scheme and that they violated the user and moderator terms, InvestorsHub would hide behind 47 USC § 230 and inform the investors that it was none of its business and that the investors should take up the matter directly with Pennymachine and Muga. InvestorsHub would then continue to assist Pennymachine and Muga in their stock and shareholder manipulation scheme as described above.
17. That InvestorsHub opened its forum content to multiple search engines on the Internet. And thus, InvestorsHub intentionally took action to have the stock and shareholder manipulation scheme perpetrated by its MODERATORS/AGENTS published on other websites that contained a URL linking investors back to the DRWN forum. For example, entering the stock ticker symbol DRWN in the Google search engine produced a URL on the first page that linked investors to the DRWN forum where they were subjected to the stock and shareholder manipulation scheme of InvestorsHub’s MODERATORS/AGENTS.
18. That as MODERATORS/AGENTS of InvestorsHub, Pennymachine and Muga were required “To promote the civil exchange of on-topic diolog that complices with the InvestorsHub Terms of Service” and “the role of the Moderator is to…..be the site’s first line of defense in ensuring we remain free of spam, vulgarity, and personal attacks”.
19. That by failing to RESTORE the negative posts about DRWN deleted by Pennymachine and Magu after notice to InvestorsHub, InvestorsHub violated its own user and moderator terms that stated “The principle objective of the iHub message boards is to maintain a high signal-to-noise ratio while encouraging the exchange of all points of view” and “In short, the role of the Moderator is to help foster an environment that promotes and encourages posting of ALL opinions and information about companies, regardless of the bullish or bearish sentiment of the posts”.
20. That by failing to RESTORE the negative posts about DRWN deleted by Pennymachine and Magu after notice to InvestorsHub, InvestorsHub violated its own user and moderator terms that stated “It is also not the Moderators’ role to remove posts on the basis of “truth” or “accuracy. “
21. That by failing to stop the moderators’ stock and shareholder manipulation scheme in its DRWN forum after notice to InvestorsHub, InvestorsHub again violated its own user and moderator terms that stated “it is not the Moderators’ role to dictate bullish or bearish sentiment, to insist the “tone” of the content be along any particular investment sentiment, or to favor one investment sentiment over another.“
22. That InvestorsHub’s facilitation of the manipulation scheme and its failure to safeguard the investors on its website from its MODERATORS has made InvestorsHub partly liable for the wrongful conduct of Pennymachine and Magu as a co-conspirator.
23. That 47 U.S.C. 230 does NOT provide InvestorsHub any immunity from the bad conduct of its MODERATORS/AGENTS. Sect. 230 was enacted to protect forum operators from third-party postings who they did NOT control. However, Sect. 230 was NOT meant to protect these forum operators from the tortious conduct of their own moderators/agents who they controlled. Therefore, InvestorsHub is liable for the stock and shareholder manipulation scheme perpetuated by Pennymachine and Magu within its DRWN forum.
14. That upon InvestorsHub being placed on notice of the wrongful conduct of its MODERATORS/AGENTS, Pennymachine and Magu, InvestorsHub did REFUSE to remove or restrict their access to the DRWN forum, which allowed them to continue their stock and shareholder manipulation scheme in violation of InvestorsHub’s user and moderator terms.
15. That when the Administrator of InvestorsHub, Mr. David Lawrence, was personally placed on written notice of Pennymachine and Magu’s stock and shareholder manipulation scheme within the DRWN forum on August 17, 2012, Mr. Lawrence stated in writing quote “We [are] not interested in your “notice” or opinions about other users” unquote.
16. That InvestorsHub conspired with Pennymachine and Muga to manipulate the stock price and shareholders within the DRWN forum when it appointed Pennymachine and Muga as MODERATORS/AGENTS of the DRWN forum, which evoked investor trust, and then it allowed Pennymachine and Muga to violate the user and moderator terms while subjecting investors to a violation of those same terms. e.g. InvestorsHub gave Pennymachine and Muga the ability to DELETE investor posts and to make their own posts within the DRWN forum, which created a conflict of interest with opposing investor opinions. Pennymachine and Muga then used that power and trust to make multiple false posts and to delete negative posts about DRWN for the purpose of fooling investors that DRWN was a valuable stock verging on an “epic breakout”. When investors would post a complaint on the DRWN forum concerning Pennymachine and Muga engaging in a stock and shareholder manipulation scheme with the DRWN stock, InvestorsHub would hold the investors in violation of the user terms and it would SUSPEND the investors’ posting privileges within all the forums except the forum labeled “JAIL”. When these investors complained directly to InvestorsHub about Pennymachine and Muga engaging in a stock and shareholder manipulation scheme and that they violated the user and moderator terms, InvestorsHub would hide behind 47 USC § 230 and inform the investors that it was none of its business and that the investors should take up the matter directly with Pennymachine and Muga. InvestorsHub would then continue to assist Pennymachine and Muga in their stock and shareholder manipulation scheme as described above.
17. That InvestorsHub opened its forum content to multiple search engines on the Internet. And thus, InvestorsHub intentionally took action to have the stock and shareholder manipulation scheme perpetrated by its MODERATORS/AGENTS published on other websites that contained a URL linking investors back to the DRWN forum. For example, entering the stock ticker symbol DRWN in the Google search engine produced a URL on the first page that linked investors to the DRWN forum where they were subjected to the stock and shareholder manipulation scheme of InvestorsHub’s MODERATORS/AGENTS.
18. That as MODERATORS/AGENTS of InvestorsHub, Pennymachine and Muga were required “To promote the civil exchange of on-topic diolog that complices with the InvestorsHub Terms of Service” and “the role of the Moderator is to…..be the site’s first line of defense in ensuring we remain free of spam, vulgarity, and personal attacks”.
19. That by failing to RESTORE the negative posts about DRWN deleted by Pennymachine and Magu after notice to InvestorsHub, InvestorsHub violated its own user and moderator terms that stated “The principle objective of the iHub message boards is to maintain a high signal-to-noise ratio while encouraging the exchange of all points of view” and “In short, the role of the Moderator is to help foster an environment that promotes and encourages posting of ALL opinions and information about companies, regardless of the bullish or bearish sentiment of the posts”.
20. That by failing to RESTORE the negative posts about DRWN deleted by Pennymachine and Magu after notice to InvestorsHub, InvestorsHub violated its own user and moderator terms that stated “It is also not the Moderators’ role to remove posts on the basis of “truth” or “accuracy. “
21. That by failing to stop the moderators’ stock and shareholder manipulation scheme in its DRWN forum after notice to InvestorsHub, InvestorsHub again violated its own user and moderator terms that stated “it is not the Moderators’ role to dictate bullish or bearish sentiment, to insist the “tone” of the content be along any particular investment sentiment, or to favor one investment sentiment over another.“
22. That InvestorsHub’s facilitation of the manipulation scheme and its failure to safeguard the investors on its website from its MODERATORS has made InvestorsHub partly liable for the wrongful conduct of Pennymachine and Magu as a co-conspirator.
23. That 47 U.S.C. 230 does NOT provide InvestorsHub any immunity from the bad conduct of its MODERATORS/AGENTS. Sect. 230 was enacted to protect forum operators from third-party postings who they did NOT control. However, Sect. 230 was NOT meant to protect these forum operators from the tortious conduct of their own moderators/agents who they controlled. Therefore, InvestorsHub is liable for the stock and shareholder manipulation scheme perpetuated by Pennymachine and Magu within its DRWN forum.
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