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.