The Tasmanian logging company Gunns [3] has been ordered to pay the legal costs of 17 environmentalists and 3 environmental groups [4], after the third version of its $A6.9 million ($US5.2m) damages claim was thrown out of court. The legal costs are estimated at more than $A1 million ($US760,000). Since December 2004, Gunns has filed three statements of claim and sacked two legal teams. Victorian Supreme Court Justice Bernard Bongiorno gave the company until November 2 to file a fourth claim. Gunns' legal actions have sparked calls for an overhaul of Australian laws [5] to ensure that corporations cannot initiate legal actions aimed at stifling community participation in public policy debates, or SLAPPs [6]. Earlier in the week, Gunns informed the court [7] that it had dropped one part of its claim in which it sought $A500,000 ($US378,000) in damages, alleging a co-ordinated campaign involving all defendants.