Eagle-37 1richwill

8/14/2019 Eagle-37 1richwill

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1DECLARATION OF RICHARD WILLIAMS ISO SPECIAL MOTION TO STRIKE COMPLAINT

DECLARATION OF RICHARD WILLIAMS IN SUPPORT OF SPECIAL MOTION TOSTRIKE THE COMPLAINT

I, Richard Williams, declare:

1. I have personal knowledge of the facts contained in this declaration, unless

otherwise indicated. If called upon to testify I am competent to do so. The documents attached

to this declaration are true copies of what they purport to be.

2. I posted messages on the Yahoo! Finance Eagle Broadband message board under

the screen name [email protected] and w as sued in this lawsuit as Doe 4.

3. I have never worked for or with plaintiff Eagle Broadband or any of its affiliates.

In the preceding 8 years I have been based in Phoenix, Arizona as a construction inspector in the

telecommunications industry. I am an independent contractor and have done projects for Level3 Communications (September 1999-July 2000), Metromedia Fiber Networks (July 2000-

February 2001), El Paso Global Networks (March 2001-September 2001), Qwest

Communications (July 2002-October 2002), AGL Networks (October 2002-February 2003, July

2003-November 2003, and July 2004-August 2005), Byers Engineering (March 2003-June

2003), Time Warner/Electric Lightwave (November 2003-March 2004), and the Salt River

Project (March 2003-May 2004). On each of these projects I functioned as a construction

inspector. This means that I mon itored and directed the installation of fiber optic networks . On

many of them I was involved in the engineering of network routes and oversaw the actual

drawing of engineering documents. My primary role was to insure that the networks were

installed per company specifications and to document all work activities. I have never been

involved in negotiating contracts, making sales, or otherwise working in the businesses of these

companies. I have never had an ownership or management interest in any of these companies. I

have never had any discussions with anyone in, or associated with, any of these companies aboutEagle Broadband, its management, or its operations. I am just an independent contractor who is

hired to work on the construction of fiber optic networks. To my knowledge, known of the

companies that I did work for, with the possible exception of Level 3 Comm unications, is a

competitor of Eagle Broadband. I understand that Level 3 Communications may be a competitor



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of Eagle Broadband; however, I stopped working for it as independent contractor almost six

years ago. During the time I did do work for Level 3 Communications, I made no Internet posts

about Eagle Broadband. In fact, I had never heard of Eagle Broadband at the time I did work for

Level 3 Communications.4. In August of 2005 I went to work in Fallujah, Iraq for the Sandi Group. I was a

site manager for camp construction for the International Police trainers. I also consulted on the

refurbishment of the main Iraqi Police headquarters in Fallujah, Iraq at the request of the

Civilian Affairs Group of the United States Marine Corps. I returned to the United States on

about January 11, 2006, and am currently seeking my next project. I hope to return to Iraq.

5. I have never sold short any shares in Eagle Broadband. I have never profited or

benefitted from a decline in the price of Eagle Broadband stock, nor have I participated in any

scheme, plan, or conspiracy to drive down the price of Eagle Broadband shares. On 2/11/04, I

purchased 2,600 shares of Eagle Broadband at $1.92. It had already had a good run up but

speculation about future prospects made it seem a good entry point. On 8/13/2004, I purchased

2,475 shares of Eagle at $.75. On 10/22/04, I purchased 3,725 shares of Eagle at $.63. On

01/18/05, I purchased 5,500 shares of Eagle at $.63. On 3/22/2005, I purchased 4,180 shares of

Eagle at $.40. This means that I made five separate purchases of Eagle Broadband stock overthe course of 13 months. I accumulated 19,480 shares at a cost of $15,061.85. This is a per

share average of $.773. As of 01/26/06 my shares in Eagle Broadband were worth $2,337.60, a

loss of $12,724.25 , including broker commissions totaling $99.85 on the transactions described

above. I bought shares in Eagle Broadband because I believed it had potential to grow and

become successful in a still-emerging market. My interest has always been in the stock

increasing in price, not decreasing.

6. Since October 2003, I have carefully followed Eagle Broadband’s performance. I

have reviewed some of its SEC filings since that time, press releases and other information

provided by Eagle on its website, and have read new s reports regarding Eagle Broadband.

7. Since October 2003, I have also read the Yahoo! message board for Eagle

Broadband. This message board, like others on Yahoo!, is a place where people who have an



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opinion about this stock can post that opinion. It is an online chat room with a predefined

subject matter. I have periodically posted messages on the Eagle Broadband message board.

The only screen name under which I have posted messages was [email protected]. I did

not make any posts to the Yahoo! Finance message board for Eagle Broadband in connectionwith my business, or to promote transactions in, or in the course of delivering, goods or services.

I have never been informed by Yahoo! that anyone has compla ined to it about any messages

which I have posted to the Eagle Broadband message board, nor about any messages which I

have posted to any other Yahoo! message board. To my knowledge, Yahoo! has never placed

any restrictions on my ability to use the Yahoo! Eagle Broadband message board, or any other

Yahoo! message board.

8. In my experience, Yahoo! Finance message board posts are not considered a

reliable source of information. Indeed, at the bottom of every Yahoo! discussion page message

appears this notice:

Reminder: This board is not connected with the company. These messages are only theopinion of the poster, are no substitute for your own research, and should not be reliedupon for trading or any other purpose. Never assume that you are anonymous and cannot

be identified by your posts. Please read our Terms of Service. For more informationregarding investments and the Internet, please visit the SEC Web site .

9. On June 10, 2005, I read message number 621277 on the Yahoo! Finance message board for Eagle Broadband, which message indicated that Eagle was be ing “deleted” from

something. (See Exhibit A to Clifford Supplemental Declaration) The message included a link

to the Russell-Mellon website, specifically to an article where Russell indicated which

companies it intended to delete from its 3000 Index. Eagle Broadband was one of the companies

which was to be deleted. (See Exhibit B to Clifford Supplemental Declaration.)

10. I then visited Eagle Broadband’s website and located the press release which Eagle

issued on June 28 , 2004, when it was first listed in the Russell 3000 Index. (See Exhibit D to

Clifford Declaration.) I posted said press release to the Yahoo! message board on June 10, 2005,

as message number 621310. (See Exhibit C to Clifford Supplem ental Declaration.)

11. I then used Eagle’s June 28, 2004, press release as a template to write my parody

press release announcing that Eagle had been deleted from the Russell 3000.



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12. I posted my parody press release on the Yahoo! Finance message board for Eagle

Broadband on June 10, 2005, as message number 621314, which clearly states that message

621314 was “posted as a reply to: Msg 621310 by richwill21.” It was posted about 10 minutes

after message number 621310. Message 621314 links back to message 621310 which has thetitle, “Remember this golden oldie?” (See Exhibit D to Clifford Supplemental Declaration.) On

June 10, 2005, shortly after I posted my parody press release, I also posted two messages after

my parody press release, numbers 621326 and 621345, which messages indicated that my parody

was not meant to be taken seriously. (See Exhibits E and F to Clifford Supplemental

Declaration.)

13. I first heard of Eagle’s lawsuit against me while I was in Iraq. I was shocked to

discover that Eagle was taking such a baseless action. At the time I was making frequent trips

into Fallujah to the Iraqi police headquar ters with the United States Marine Corps. I had enough

on my mind, with the distinct possibility of being blown up on any given day. The last thing I

needed was to think about how to defend myself from this lawsuit. I was in a dangerous

situation, trying to do what I could to help rebuild a decimated area. I did my best to ignore the

lawsuit for a while but decided that I should protect myself. I spent several hours on the Internet

researching the lawsuit and searching for a competent attorney. Since the beginning of Eagle’saction I have had a persistent anxiety about this case. Being unfamiliar with such legal actions

and where it might lead, I had great concern regarding my financial future and whether criminal

charges where in the offing. I am still stunned that I have been sued for posting a parody

message on a message board.

I declare under penalty on perjury under the laws of the State of California that the

foregoing is true and correct.

Dated: February 14, 2006 _________________________________ Richard Williams



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