Minimum Contacts. George S. May (May) is a management consulting firnm orporated in Delaware with its principal place of business in Illinois. Xcentric Ventures (Xcentric) is an Arizona limited liability company with its principal place of business in Arizona. Xcentric is the owner of BadBusinessBureau.com and RipOffReport.com (the Sites). The Sites style themselves as consumer advocate resources and permit postings in which consumers complain how they were ripped off by various companies. Visitors to the Sites can purchase the book Do-It-Yourself Guide: How to Get Rip-Off Revenge which will be shipped to any location in the U.S. The Sites also solicit donations. Numerous Ilinois residents posted comments on the Sites, defendants themselves posted some replies to the comments. Thirteen Illinois residents purchased the book and 47 made donations. Defendants referred some people to a law firm in Illinois, and sought to enter into a business relationship with a Chicago law firm and refer clients to this firm. However, defendants have no physical presence in Ilinois. The Sites contained postings accusing May and its officers and employees of many misdeeds, including larceny, possession of child pornography, and possession of controlled substances. May filed a lawsuit for trade libel and deceptive trade practices. The court granted Mays motion for a temporary restraining order which enjoined defendants from any further transmissions. Defendants filed a motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction, alleging they have no minimum contacts with the state of Illinois.
QUESTIONS
Do defendants internet activities constitute contacts for the purpose of personal jurisdiction in any other lawsuits filed in Illinois?