Amway Statement on Free Speech, on the Internet, and on Sidney Schwartz and P&G
from Amway.com, Internet Archive copy, May 8, 1999
In connection with a lawsuit filed against Procter & Gamble for its active support of a false and misleading anti-Amway web site, Amway Corporation has served subpoenas on six individuals and groups.
Amway believes those served with subpoenas have participated in or have been party to a coordinated anti-Amway attack subsidized by P&G on the Internet and that they may possess valuable evidence about P&G's dissemination of inflammatory and false information about Amway.
These subpoenas are not about freedom of speech; rather, they are about the collection of evidence. The subpoenas call for all documents -- paper and electronic -- pertaining to P&G's anti-Amway activities. These include communications with P&G and its attorneys, information about various web sites, and communications between individuals engaged in anti-Amway activities. If these individuals and groups do not have information relevant to the lawsuit, these subpoenas should be of no concern.
In November 1998, Amway filed its lawsuit against P&G to protect Amway's successful, multi-national business. Amway filed the lawsuit after learning that P&G was providing misleading information to the author of an anti-Amway web site and was supporting the author of that web site with free legal services and consulting payments.
The Complaint, filed in Michigan federal court, challenges P&G's once-secret consulting relationship with Mr. Schwartz, who has used the World Wide Web to spread false or misleading information about Amway. In an ironic twist, Amway found out about P&G's relationship with Mr. Schwartz during the defense of another case in which P&G falsely claimed Amway was behind an old, false rumor that P&G subsidizes the Church of Satan.
Amway prefers to meet its competitors in the open marketplace, not cloaked behind a mask of false and misleading attacks. By collecting evidence about P&G's subsidy of false and misleading attacks on the Internet, Amway hopes to return to a level playing field with P&G and other manufacturers of household and personal care products.
