Google, Twitter go to bat for Theflyonthewall

Google, Twitter go to bat for Theflyonthewall
Tue Jun 22, 2010 1:15am EDT

(Reuters) - Google Inc and Twitter Inc have asked an appeals court to overturn a lower court's decision to bar Theflyonthewall.com from issuing immediate news on analyst research from several Wall Street banks, court documents showed.

Theflyonthewall.com posted headlines from research reports and press releases on its website, often before banks could share their recommendations with their clients.

In March, U.S. District Judge Denise Cote said Theflyonthewall.com engaged in "systematic misappropriation," essentially getting a "free ride" from its quick publication of upgrades and downgrades that can move stocks higher and lower.

The ruling was made in favor of Bank of America Corp's Merrill Lynch unit, Barclays Plc and Morgan Stanley, which had earlier sought court intervention to ban Theflyonthewall from using their research reports.

However, in a filing with an appeals court late on Monday, Google and Twitter argued that in the age of Internet and instantaneous communication, banning of Theflyonthewall.com's immediate news dissemination was "obsolete."

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE65L0OI20100622