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California brothers win $4.3 million award against X10

By The Associated Press

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YORBA LINDA, Calif. — Three California brothers were awarded $4.3 million, and stand to win more in punitive damages, after accusing Seattle-based X10 Wireless Technology of trying to bully them out of business.

But the brothers, who founded their advertising company when the youngest was still in his teens, say the case is about the cutthroat nature of Internet business, not about money.

"This lawsuit was about fairness, not about making us rich," said Chris Vanderhook, who created an Internet ad business with his brothers in 1999.

Two weeks ago, a Superior Court jury in Santa Ana, Calif., ordered tech company X10 to pay $4.3 million in compensatory damages to the Vanderhooks. Deliberations on punitive damages start tomorrow.

The brothers — Russell, 26; Chris, 25; and Tim, 22 — claimed X10 failed to pay $564,000 in commissions and stole their proprietary technology and business model.

X10 attorney Sean O'Connor declined to comment or say whether X10 planned to appeal. "It would be inappropriate for either counsel to discuss this matter until the jury has completed its deliberations," he said.

The Vanderhooks created Advertisement Banners.com from their parents' Yorba Linda home.

It was one of the few companies with "pop-under" technology that allows advertisers to place product pitches underneath computer Web sites so that ads are seen after users close their browser rather than popping up while users are looking at a site.

Copyright © 2003 The Seattle Times Company