Nighthawk Energy may sue bulletin board ‘de-rampers’

Nighthawk Energy (LON:HAWK, OTC:NHEGY) is considering legal action against ‘de-rampers’ who have been making “persistent defamatory and untrue postings” on bulletin boards, hosted on the Interactive Investor (iii) and ADVFN (ADVFN) websites.

The postings concern the operations of Nighthawk and its management which the board considers to be extremely damaging to the company and its reputation.

After it obtained a High Court of Justice order in June, instructing iii and ADVFN to provide the posters’ details - who were posting material that the court accepted could be defamatory -, Nighthawk said it has now established the posters’ identities and it is considering, with its legal advisers, instituting civil proceedings against the ‘de-rampers’ for defamation.

“The company took steps to identify the posters who try to escape liability for their defamatory postings by hiding behind a cloak of anonymity ... In some cases the names and other details used to register these accounts are fictitious and posters also can try and cover their tracks using numerous pseudonyms but they can be traced through their IP addresses”.

Both iii and ADVFN are assisting Nighthawk to provide the posters’ details. In a separate statement, Nostra Terra Oil and Gas (LON:NTOG) revealed that it is also mulling civil proceedings against certain bulletin board posters.

The company is considering its next move in response to “untrue and malicious statements about the company's activities and personnel”, which it claims have been “made repeatedly by certain posters” on the internet and via the iii and ADVFN boards.

Like Nighthawk, Nostra Terra obtained a High Court of Justice order instructing iii and ADVFN to provide information relating to the bulletin board posters.

http://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/news/19794/nighthawk-energy-may-sue-bulletin-board-de-rampers-19794.html