Maryland Court Weighs Internet Anonymity

Posted by timothy on Tuesday December 9, 2008 @05:58AM from the when-first-grade-never-ends dept.

Cornwallis writes "In a First Amendment case with implications for everything from neighborhood e-mail lists to national newspapers, a Maryland businessman argued to the state's highest court yesterday that the host of an online forum should be forced to reveal the identities of people who posted allegedly defamatory comments. The businessman, Zebulon J. Brodie, contends that he was defamed by comments about his shop, a Dunkin' Donuts in Centreville, posted on NewsZap.com. The shop was described as one 'of the most dirty and unsanitary-looking food-service places I have seen.' Talk about a Negative Nellie! At least the article didn't say the shop was the 'most dirty and unsanitary-looking food-service places I have seen.'"

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Re:You just got served by humor by macraig · 2008-12-09 07:20 · Score: 0, Redundant

Indeed... he apparently intended to be funny but was unintentionally much more insightful than he realized. Anonymity actually is contributory to many disruptions and deteriorations in an ethical society. Ethics and anonymity are not synergistic bedfellows.