Slashdot Mirror
Internet Defamation Suit Tests Online Anonymity
The Xoxo Reader writes "Reuters reports that two women at Yale Law School have filed suit for defamation and infliction of emotional distress against an administrator and 28 anonymous posters on AutoAdmit (a.k.a. Xoxohth), a popular law student discussion site. Experts are watching to see if the suit will unmask the posters, who are identified in the complaint only by their pseudonyms. Since AutoAdmit's administrators have previously said that they do not retain IP logs of posters, identifying the defendants may test the limits of the legal system and anonymity on the Internet. So far, one method tried was to post the summons on the message board itself and ask the defendants to step forward. The controversy leading to this lawsuit was previously discussed on Slashdot."
Ok, so say I'm imagining some horrors. What then? What do you propose should be done to me, to "sort me out"? You're assuming that I'm going to "do something stupid" so are you suggesting that my "ignorance and fear" should be corrected preemptively?
No, dumbass.
You should be able to check the records of the person you suspect and assure yourself that there isn't anything going on.
And if there is abuse going on, thanks for turning them out. We better all put a stop to that together, don't you think?
And if there isn't any abuse going on, now you can relax and not go about your life under horrible false assumptions.
Understand... privacy is at the root of the whole "1984esque-thoughtcrime" idea. In that scenario, your neighbour doesn't know what you do, you don't know what they do, but big brother knows what everyone does.
Understand... you can't cut off "big brother", it isn't possible. He's already there, now, reading your credit card records and watching you on the uncensored version of google earth.
All you can do is see to it that big brother doesn't know more than you do, and that your neighbours are equally well informed.
The more you struggle vainly to defend your privacy, the more you ensure that there is a greater imbalance of knowledge between those in power and those not in power.
You assure that there will be no one brave enough to speak beside you when you are found to be violating the law IN THE EXACT SAME WAY THEY ARE because they don't want anyone to know that they are like you.
You are sold privacy by those who are advantaged by it in the exact way I describe. But it is not in your best interest.
It is an instrumental part of the mechanism of your control.
-1 Uncomfortable Truth
So the basis of this suit is that the girls were damaged by comments made by guys with names like "STANFORDtroll" AND "Ayatollah of rock and rollah"? Is it not more reasonable to believe that their inability to deflect schoolyard comments like doody face and cooty breath may be symptomatic of a more fundamental problem.
The fact is that these girls were applying for competitive positions and while it may be true that people said unpleasant things about them in a public forum, if they were half as talented as they purport to be, they should have been able to overcome the rantings of people named "STANFORDtroll" AND "Ayatollah of rock and rollah"
The fact that they even brought this action anonymously shows how incompetent they are. Just think about it. They brought the suits as Does 1 and 2. They alleged that "specific comments" made by these "specific people" harmed them. Since we know the exact user names and exact comments, then it should be very easy to identify the girls by name by simply reviewing the forums thereby exposing them to the same ridicule that they say ruined their chances to get these competitive positions.
Of course their is always the possibility that this is some gambit where they are trying to get a job by creating a legal controversy that they can be the center of. I mean really, what do they have to lose. They either wind up with jobs they would not have otherwise been considered for or no worse off than they are now and the only thing at risk is our civil rights.