The case was brought by ZixIt, a US-based provider of
e-messaging services against Visa US and Visa International Service
Association. In the lawsuit, ZixIt alleged that Visa undertook a
series of actions that “interfered with prospective business
relationships” for ZixCharge, the company’s new authorisation
payment system for on-line transactions, and sought damages of $699
million.
ZixIt, which launched ZixCharge in 1999, claimed that Paul
Guthrie, then Visa’s vice president for technology research and
development, tried to undermine the on-line credit card processing
system.
Guthrie apparently posted more than 437 messages on a Yahoo!
message board for ZixIt investors, challenging ZixIt’s claims that
its system would enable users to shop on-line without revealing
their credit card details, in contrast with Visa’s protocols. He
also recommended that investors should sell their ZixIt stock
“before it was too late.”
ZixIt alleged that Guthrie’s on-line activities were part of a
“malicious scheme” by Visa to disparage the company, its management
and its stockholders. ZixIt also claimed that Visa interfered with
its marketing efforts and that its corporate representatives
defamed ZixCharge in meetings with financial institutions and
credit card issuers.
However, the jury in the 192nd District Court in Dallas County,
Texas, found that Visa’s now former executive was not acting in the
scope of his employment and therefore Visa did not defame or
interfere with ZixIt’s business.
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