Forestweb Inc

Forestweb Inc. is a company that provides integrated market intelligence solutions to the forest products industry. Currently, the company is operating under the Industry Intelligence Inc. umbrella after expanding coverage to the packaging and food and beverage industries.
History
Rami Ghandour and Marwan Jaroudi founded Forestweb in early 1999. Forestweb Inc. utilized Ghandour’s patented mapping system transforming raw information into usable intelligence. In 2005, Forestweb expanded the scope of its industry coverage to the packaging industry and began doing business as Industry Intelligence Inc.
Lawsuit
Does a reporters' source belong to the reporter or to the publication? That is, if reporter Bob Woodward who exposed the Watergate scandal that brought down President Nixon had left The Washington Post, would he have been able to keep talking to his infamous secret informant “Deep Throat” or would the source have stayed with the paper?
That question was addressed in June 2001, when paper industry trade journal, Paperloop, sued Forestweb Inc. and three journalists for allegedly misusing confidential information. The contention was whether reporters or the publications that employ them own sources. "I have never seen a case that a source's identity is a trade secret," said Forestweb attorney Neil Shapiro.
The lawsuit involved a first amendment issue on freedom of speech and freedom of the press. After several early rounds in court and a mediation session, Paperloop agreed to drop the charges. Neil Shapiro declared, “I'm talking about both freedom of speech and freedom of the press. To say can't talk to anybody is a prior restraint," adding that it also violates the "concomitant right to gather and publish information.”
Asked about the lawsuit in an interview, Shapiro stated: "Somebody tried to stop reporters from using their sources and eventually gave up. I'd say the press did all right."
Patent
United States Patent on Network Resource Categorization and Tracking Apparatus, Method and Computer-Medium, Patent No. 7,243,107, July 10, 2007.
Notes and references

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu