Taser sues USA TODAY parent for libel over story

[TheFederalistWeasel]

Taser sues USA TODAY parent for libel over story

http://www.usatoday.com/money/media/2005-07-01-taser-gci_x.htm

From staff and wire reports
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Stun gun maker Taser International (TASR) said Friday it filed a libel lawsuit against USA TODAY publisher Gannett (GCI) for publishing an article that Taser said misled readers about the safety of its products.

Taser, which has been under scrutiny over the safety of its stun guns, said it filed suit in Arizona Superior Court accusing Gannett of libel, false light invasion of privacy, injurious falsehood and tortious interference with business relations.

Taser also accused Gannett of publishing a series of misleading articles about its products.

Tara Connell, a spokeswoman for Gannett, also the parent company of the Arizona Republic newspaper, said the company had not yet seen the complaint and did not have a comment on it.

"Over the course of this biased campaign, more than $1 billion dollars of shareholder value has been erased," Taser Chief Executive Rick Smith said in a statement.

Taser stock is down about 68% so far this year.

The lawsuit centers on a USA TODAY article from June 3, which Taser says vastly overstated the level of electrical output of one of Taser's stun guns. Moreover, the newspaper "further sensationalized" the story with photographic comparisons of the power of the Taser gun with the electrical output of an electric chair, a lightning storm and an electric train track, Taser says.

The article reported the electrical output of the gun was more than 100 times that of the electric chair, when in fact the average electrical current of Taser guns is 1,000 times less than that of an electric chair, the suit says.

USA TODAY published a correction to the story June 6, saying "Due to a mathematical error, a graphic Friday significantly overstated the amount of electricity delivered by a Taser. The correct numbers are .0021 to .0036 amperes — a minuscule fraction of the electricity used by subway trains and the electric chair. The electricity produced by a Taser is less than that delivered by electroshock therapy used to treat pain and depression."

Gannett is also the parent of USATODAY.com.

 

[slowworm]

Rule number one of management executives:

"If the share price is falling like a stone sue someone so you can claim it wasn't your fault.

I doubt a 68% fall can be attributed entirely to USA today. I strongly suspect highly inflated sales projections the company could never meet regardless of the USA today stories and other promises of shareholder returns that likewise it could never meet have played a huge part in the fall.

Part of the stock price rise also had to be on the back of the taser hype last year as folks bought in on the craze and the price fall is part of a natural price correction.

This happens all the time on Wall Street.

 

[AK-74me]

Good I hope they win, shareholders have been crushed by BS stories like that.

Even if the price was inflated based on future sales, and that does happen on wall street all the time it still isn't right that such a inflential and wide spread paper make such a huge error. How about they make sure of what they are writing before it gets published.

 

[El Tejon]

Hoozah! Time for Big Media to get what's coming to it!

Media Control now! It's for the children.

 

[Aguila Blanca]

It's typical, but entirely unfair and immoral, that publications seem to make egregious errors in front page stores, yet the corrections are always buried in fine print on about page seven ... at the lower corner where they are least likely to be noticed.

"The ___ Times regrets the error" is a hypocritical statement at best. If they were really sorry, they'd make certain that the people who read the original story could also see the correction.

 

[Al Norris]

Tasers (TASR - Nasdaq) stock have been in free fall since the first of the year. From a high of around $33 at the end of Dec. '04 to a low of about $7 towards the end of Apr. '05. They began a slow climb, back to $12 a share until Mid May, at which point theyu have begun to decline again. They closed at $9.75 today, down frpom $10.10 at yesterday's close. It appears that even the investers don't believe Taser, and their lawsuit has negatively impacted their stocks.

 

[centac]

Note to self: buy Taser stock with leftover vacation bux.

Any relatively new and agressive company can have teething pains. Taser will weather this out in the long run.

 

[PromptCritical]

This is just another example of someone knowingly or ignorantly spreading false information.

I have no doubt that a taser produces many times the VOLTAGE of an electric chair. However, the killer is the CURRENT that flows through the person being shocked. A taser may generate thousands of volts between the probes, but will deliver an extremely low current, much less than the half an amp or so required to pose any risk. The only concern should be for people with pre-existing heart conditions and those with pacemakers. That said, I sure hope cops are using these things as the next to last resort, somewhere between pepper spray and sidearms, for stopping a suspect. They are certainly not for getting someone to calm down or to get a suspects attention. They are a serious weapon and should be treated as such.

My $.02

 

[patentnonsense]

I hope Gannett has the cojones to fight. Tasers are an interesting weapon system, but their safety has been oversold, and they're sometimes used merely for punishment. I get a little tired of all the propaganda from the Taser company.

 

[AK-74me]

I hope Gannett has the cojones to fight. Tasers are an interesting weapon system, but their safety has been oversold, and they're sometimes used merely for punishment. I get a little tired of all the propaganda from the Taser company.

So you think uninformed reports, and incorrect info. published that has a signficant consiquence should go unpunished?

 

[Khaotic]

I think he's asking for Quid Pro Quo on the issue.

Neither the papers, nor Taser, has been entirely objective here.
You cannot flame/sue one and not address the other without some hypocrisy.

-K

(Side Note: Corrections *should* be on page 2, I do agree with that, burying them makes them ineffective.)

 

[Third_Rail]

Taser isn't selling the $1000 stun guns that fire only once and you need a background check for? Whyever not???


Give me a real gun anyday, the Tasers are prohibited everywhere real guns are, and some additional places too.

 

[DelayedReaction]

If they wanted to make money, they would have focused on the civilian market and not just LE. Developing an inexpensive, reloadable, and concealable taser that used their technology would quickly flood the market. I'm sure they could have developed it in such a manner as to not be considered a firearm.

 

[No_Brakes23]

I am not buying Taser's claim about their stocks, but I would LOVE to see a journo get slammed for lazy facts/lies.

Developing an inexpensive, reloadable, and concealable taser

Uhless the cop one is different, it is reloadable, and even when fired can be used as a contact Stun Gun. Damn straight about the concealability of it, though. My wife can't really hide something shaped like a Glock.

Tasers are prohibited everywhere real guns are

CCW for firearms is difficult to obtain here in Cali, but a woman can legally put a taser in her purse. I will take a real gun anyday, too, but you take what you can get.

 

[Ukraine Train]

So according to USA Today, trains can run on AA batteries and that Vandegraff generator I played with in fifth grade should have vaporized me. Sounds good!