Goldstein Loses Free Speech Case Against Mass.

A Massachusetts court ruled that the government did not impede the free speech rights of hedge fund Bulldog Investors manager Philip Goldstein by restricting his website only to qualified investors.

Goldstein, who is known for his tenacity, famously and successfully sued the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2006 to keep it from requiring hedge funds to register. In this case, Bulldog Investors General Partnership et al vs. William F. Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Goldstein struck back at Galvin, who has repeatedly defended investors rights.

Galvin sued Goldstein two years ago and fined him $25,000 for permitting full online access to his website.

“This ruling is wrong, and we are going to appeal it,” Goldstein told Reuters. “Apparently, if you live in Massachusetts you have to be rich to read truthful material on a hedge fund website. They’re essentially saying that you can’t get a brochure for a Rolls Royce because you can’t afford the car, and that is not right. We can’t put anything up there because of the threat of enforcement.”