The Associated Press: Quixtar Sues 30 Over Web Remarks

GRAND HAVEN, Mich. (AP) — Direct-marketing firm Quixtar Inc., a
sister company of Amway Corp., has sued 30 people who anonymously
posted what it considers disparaging remarks about Quixtar in blogs and
online forums and in YouTube.com videos.

In the lawsuit filed
this past week in Ottawa County Circuit Court, Quixtar seeks an
injunction and damages of more than $25,000 against the posters,
identified only as John Does.

Quixtar believes the videos and
other postings are part of an organized effort by former distributors
who unsuccessfully sued Alticor and are under court order not to
disparage the company or disclose proprietary information, according to
the lawsuit.

In one video the lawsuit cites, a man wearing a
shirt that says “Property of Quixtar” rants about the company. In
another, a man points out products at a grocery store priced much lower
than comparable Quixtar products.

Quixtar plans to ask for
permission to subpoena various online companies to figure out who
posted the materials, spokesman Rob Zeiger said.

Quixtar develops
and manufactures nutrition, beauty and cleaning products that are
marketed through a tiered selling system. Parent company Alticor Inc.
uses the Quixtar name for its U.S. and Canadian direct sales unit and
sells products throughout the rest of the world as Amway Corp.

Alticor,
a $6.3 billion company based in Ada, Mich., announced in June that it
will start phasing out the Quixtar name and rebuilding its Amway brand
in the U.S. and Canada.

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