Brothers who sued Internet company win $4.3 million damages

YORBA LINDA, Calif., Oct. 20 — Three young brothers were awarded $4.3 million — and stand to win more in punitive damages — after accusing X10 Wireless Technology of trying to bully them out of business.

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

X10 attorney Sean P. O'Connor declined to comment or say whether the company 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 to use ''pop-under'' technology that allows advertisers to place their product pitches underneath computer Web sites so that a person sees the ads after they close their browser rather than being confronted by the more annoying ''pop-up'' announcements while they're looking at something else.

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