Treading into an important new area of Internet law, a Minnesota-based retailer has filed a lawsuit alleging that some people - possibly employees - have posted confidential information about the company on a Yahoo! message board.

Courts, companies and often their current and former employees are working out what legally can be said about businesses on the Internet. The lawsuit by Nash Finch, a food wholesaler and retailer based in Edina, Minn., is an example of how companies are changing their legal strategies to go after people they believe have said harmful things about them on the Internet. Normally, companies had slapped people with lawsuits that alleged libel, and individuals had defended themselves by saying their speech was protected by the First Amendment. But the companies that go after them have begun trying to get around that by alleging that such individuals did other things wrong, too. Filed late last month in Santa Clara County, Calif., the suit did not name defendants specifically, but called them (John) "Does" 1 through 50. The company said it will amend its lawsuit once it learns the identities of those involved. To do that, Nash Finch lawyers are seeking to subpoena from Yahoo! the real identities of the people who wrote the postings under made-up screen names. A Nash Finch spokeswoman confirmed the company has filed the lawsuit, but declined further comment. The company has hired Allison Chock of the California-based law firm of Latham & Watkins, who also declined to comment. Details and dates of the specific Yahoo! postings are unknown, but recent postings by someone alleging to be a former board member are highly critical of Nash Finch CEO Ron Marshall, who joined the firm in 1998. One of the postings questioned Marshall's integrity while another casts doubt on the validity of the company's financial reports. Neither specified any particular wrongdoing. The information placed on the Nash Finch message board has caused "irreparable injury" to its business, the suit alleges.