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UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
Form 8-K
Current Report
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): July 29, 2008
LoopNet, Inc.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
000-52026
(Commission File Number)
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Delaware
(State or other jurisdiction of
incorporation)
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77-0463987
(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) |
LoopNet, Inc.
185 Berry Street, Suite 4000
San Francisco, CA 94107
(Address of principal executive offices, with zip code)
(415) 243-4200
(Registrants telephone number, including area code)
Not Applicable
(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)
Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy
the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions (see General
Instruction A.2. below):
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o Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425) |
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o Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12) |
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o Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR
240.14d-2(b)) |
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o Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR
240.13e-4(c)) |
Item 7.01. Regulation FD Disclosure
Litigation Update
In light of recent and continuing inaccurate statements about litigation to which we are a
party, we are providing the following litigation update for our stockholders:
Over the past year, LoopNet, Inc. (LoopNet) has had to take legal action against CoStar
Group, Inc. and CoStar Realty Information, Inc. (CoStar) to stop CoStar from its unlawful efforts
to build its business on the back of LoopNet and its members. Last year LoopNet filed a lawsuit to
stop CoStar from its unlawful scheme of copying and using LoopNet listing information for its
competitive listing service. More recently, LoopNet has taken legal action to stop a CoStar false
advertising campaign against LoopNet.
During the course of these litigation proceedings, it has been LoopNets policy to refrain
from public comment about the cases, other than to provide information about the litigation in its
periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and to instead seek to enforce its
rights in the courtroom. At the same time, however, CoStar has chosen to litigate in the press
the cases whether through press releases, supposed news items, and public statements in which
CoStar gives its spin on the litigation proceedings and uses them as a platform to disparage
LoopNet. While we do not agree with these tactics, they have prompted several requests from
LoopNet investors about our view on CoStars statements. In an effort to respond to such
statements in a forum for all of its stockholders, LoopNet is providing the following additional
information concerning the litigation matters. For further details about the proceedings, LoopNet
has also posted a number of the public filings at: http://www.loopnet.com/litigation.
As discussed in greater detail in the public filings, LoopNet believes that CoStars unlawful
taking and use of LoopNet listings is part of an ongoing pattern of CoStar copying LoopNet listings
dating back to 2005. While CoStar claimed then and now that its listings are supposedly the result
of independent research, LoopNet has discovered that in the past CoStars research involved
having CoStar employees sign up for a LoopNet account from which they could copy LoopNet listings
and re-post them to CoStar.com and more recently having employees copy listing information from
listings on the non-password protected areas of LoopNet.com.
LoopNet first brought suit against CoStar in 2005 to stop CoStars copying. The 2005 lawsuit
ended when CoStar and LoopNet entered into a settlement agreement in which CoStar agreed to
prohibit CoStar employees from logging onto LoopNet.com. CoStar also agreed that all of its
employees would on a going forward basis abide by LoopNets terms of use. LoopNets terms of use
exist to facilitate the legitimate, lawful use of LoopNet.com, and they strictly prohibit the
reproduction and use of LoopNet listings by a competitor for competitive purposes. CoStar agreed
to make adherence to LoopNets terms of use CoStars official company policy, which policy CoStar
supposedly made all employees read and acknowledge. LoopNet expected CoStar to honor the
provisions of the settlement agreement when it agreed to end its lawsuit, and it specifically
negotiated for inspection rights to ensure that CoStar did so.
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Last year, LoopNet discovered during a routine inspection that, notwithstanding CoStars
commitments, CoStar was continuing to engage in the theft and unlawful use of property listings and
listing information from LoopNet. Based on the available information, LoopNet believes that
CoStars new scheme was to copy listings accessible from the non-password protected areas of
LoopNet.com, to re-post them on CoStar.com, and to use them to contact and solicit business from
LoopNets customers.
To stop CoStars copying, on November 15, 2007, LoopNet filed another suit against CoStar in
the Superior Court of the State of California. LoopNets Complaint alleged breach of contract,
violation of the California Comprehensive Computer Data Access and Fraud Act and unfair competition
arising from CoStars theft and unlawful use of LoopNet property listings and listing information.
LoopNet seeks damages and an injunction to bring an end to CoStars unlawful attempts to build its
business on the back of LoopNet.com and its members.
CoStars public stance in response to the suit has been to assert that CoStar is copying
listings only from LoopLink web sites (private labeled search sites which LoopNet powers) or that
its copying is done at the request of brokers. CoStar has not yet provided any information to
support its claims. The evidence uncovered by LoopNet during a short pre-filing inspection
uncovered numerous examples in which CoStar appears to have copied LoopNet listings, not LoopLink
listings, in violation of LoopNets Terms of Use. In the litigation, CoStar has refused to turn
over the evidence that will detail the full extent of CoStars copying and use, although it was
recently ordered by the Court to do so.
CoStar has falsely attempted to spin LoopNets suit as supposedly an attempt by LoopNet to
restrict brokers from marketing their listings via other channels or to restrict what can be done
on brokers websites that use LoopLink to host listings. This is an inaccurate characterization of
LoopNets claims, which LoopNet believes CoStar has presented publicly to deflect attention from
its misconduct. LoopNets suit is not about CoStar accessing listings from brokers websites, or
about information that brokers send to CoStar. In LoopNets view, brokers are free to market their
listings wherever and however they like. LoopNet permits brokers to use their LoopNet listings as
they wish. LoopNet does not seek to prohibit brokers from using their listings in other marketing
channels, and nothing in the suit seeks to prevent brokers from sending copies of their listings to
CoStar should they so desire.
LoopNet believes that CoStars recent championing of brokers rights has nothing to do with
LoopNets claimsCoStars own position with respect to its own listings is quite different.
CoStar, unlike LoopNet, claims to own all of the data in its listings. CoStar, unlike LoopNet,
prohibits brokers from using their CoStar listing or any part of it in another marketing
channeleven, apparently when CoStar obtained the listing in the first place by copying it from
LoopNet.com. And CoStar denounces the unauthorized reproduction of materials from its own website
as piracy, further stating in a January 2008 press release that data theft is one of the biggest
obstacles we [CoStar] face. But LoopNet believes that CoStar nevertheless persists in routinely
stealing data from LoopNets website.
In response to LoopNets lawsuit in California, CoStar filed a false advertising case in New
York in February, which LoopNet believes is completely without merit. In that suit, CoStar
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alleges
that several of the core operating metrics that LoopNet has publicly reported for years, and which
have been validated by several independent parties, including extensive due diligence for LoopNets
IPO, are false or misstated. LoopNet stands by the operating numbers we have reported over the
years.
Furthermore, we believe that CoStars suit in New York also served as part of CoStars
marketing campaign for their CoStar Showcase product, a product which CoStar describes as directly
competing with LoopNets services. It is a matter of undisputed fact that CoStars website has far
less traffic than LoopNets site, and, as such, offers a much smaller online audience for online
commercial property marketing. Third-party, independently verifiable web site traffic reports from
comScore consistently bear out this wide disparity in traffic. For example, for the month of June
2008, comScore reported 859,020 total unique visitors for LoopNet.com, while reporting only 135,313
for CoStar.com. In an apparent effort to sell its new CoStar Showcase product, CoStar engaged a
two-prong attack its meritless lawsuit, which it has used as a platform in an effort to call into
question LoopNets vastly larger online audience, and a false advertising campaign, meant to
deceive the public about CoStars online audience and its supposed comparative advantages. In the
face of CoStars false advertising, LoopNet has countersued CoStar in New York and it has filed for
a preliminary injunction to stop CoStars false advertising concerning CoStars Showcase product.
Although it is not inexpensive to do so, LoopNet intends to continue to enforce its legal
rights and seek remedies for CoStars unlawful actions and intends to continue to defend itself
against CoStars false and misleading statements about LoopNets business.
This litigation update contains forward-looking statements regarding LoopNets expectations
regarding legal actions and lawsuits currently proceeding. These statements are based on current
information and expectations that are subject to change and may involve a number of risks and
uncertainties. Actual events or results might differ materially from those in such forward-looking
statements due to various factors, including, but not limited to LoopNets ability to successfully
defend itself from claims and support its own claims, the potential for adverse legal rulings and
the potential for additional adverse legal actions. LoopNet does not currently intend to update
the statements set forth herein, except as may be required by law or otherwise.
The information contained in this Current Report on Form 8-K shall be considered furnished
pursuant to this Current Report on Form 8-K and shall not be deemed filed for purposes of
Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or otherwise subject to the
liabilities of that Section or Sections 11 and 12(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended,
nor shall it be deemed incorporated by reference into any of LoopNets reports or filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, whether made before or after the date hereof, except as
expressly set forth by specific reference in such a filing.
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly
caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
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LoopNet, Inc.
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Date: July 29, 2008 |
By: |
/s/
Brent Stumme
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Brent Stumme |
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Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice
President, Finance and Administration |
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