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FORTUNE666 - AOL postings blamed for Iomega stock troubles

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This may be of interest to lovers and haters of chaos, alike-

>From Edupage:

IOMEGA STOCK VOLATILITY BLAMED ON AOL POSTINGS
Iomega, maker of high-capacity removable disk drives, is the focus of
controversy on America Online's Motley Fool bulletin board.  Company
officials have complained to the SEC that postings on Motley Fool and other
BBSs have contained false information and may be contributing to the
volatility of its stock.  Online exposure has "raised the visibility of some
stocks as well as the interest in those stocks," says an outside spokesman
for Iomega.  "At the same time, we're very concerned about how online
services can be used to attempt to drive stock prices higher or lower
through misinformation."  Postings about Iomega escalated to flaming and
physical threats last month, causing Motley Fool to pull some of the more
offensive ones, but critics of online BBSs note Iomega's problems are a
result of the practice of using "screen names" and the lack of verification
of information that's posted.  "You don't know if the person is a Ph.D. or
in Sing Sing," says one critic.  (Wall Street Journal 15 Mar 96 A5C)