Overstock.com to Gradient Analytics and Rocker Partners: Where's the Countersuit You Threatened?

Overstock.com to Gradient Analytics and Rocker Partners: Where's the Countersuit You Threatened?

		Overstock.com, Inc. is an online "closeout: retailer offering discount, brand-name merchandise for sale over the Internet. The company offers its customers an opportunity to shop for bargains conveniently, while offering its suppliers an alternative inventory liquidation distribution channel. Overstock.com is a publicly traded company listed on the NASDAQ National Market System, headquartered in Salt Lake City, and can be found online at www.overstock.com. (PRNewsFoto) SALT LAKE CITY, UT USA

Overstock.com Fights Campaign of Stalls and Lies by Rocker and Gradient SALT LAKE CITY, March 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Overstock.com(R) (Nasdaq: OSTK) President Patrick Byrne issued the following response to Gradient Analytics' notice of appeal, filed in response to the California Superior Court ruling denying Gradient's Anti-SLAPP Motion to Strike all causes in the Overstock.com lawsuit: (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20030520/LATU020LOGO-a ) "Eight months ago Gradient and Rocker were thumping their chests threatening to counter-sue us. I said at the time that they would not because these miscreants could not survive the discovery a counter-suit would trigger. They still have not filed suit, and now, once again, they are doing whatever they can to stall the discovery process. I once again invite them to counter-sue, and let us move to discovery quickly." "In addition, while Gradient, Rocker and their cronies attempt to spin this as a First Amendment issue, let me remind observers that the activities described in our witness's declarations are covered by a technical term: 'illegal.' It is 'illegal' to let favored clients doctor research then publish it as independent; it is 'illegal' to permit such clients to front-run that same research; it is 'illegal' to front-run it themselves through hedge funds they secretly control. Their arguments that this conduct is somehow all protected by the First Amendment were roundly rejected by the Honorable Vernon Smith, whose decision these blackguards now dismiss as an 'erroneous trial-court ruling.' Good luck with that, fellows." Overstock.com filed its original lawsuit against research firm Gradient Analytics and hedge fund Rocker Partners in August 2005 when it learned the firms colluded to publish false and misleading research in a scheme to engineer stock fluctuations from which Rocker and Gradient's owners could front-run stock trades while harming Overstock's reputation with consumers, suppliers, and employees. About Overstock.com Overstock.com, Inc. is an online "closeout" retailer offering discount, brand-name merchandise for sale over the Internet. The company offers its customers an opportunity to shop for bargains conveniently, while offering its suppliers an alternative inventory liquidation distribution channel. Overstock.com, headquartered in Salt Lake City, is a publicly traded company listed on the NASDAQ National Market System and can be found online at http://www.overstock.com. Overstock.com is a registered trademark of Overstock.com, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective companies.