Australian Court Lets Lawyer Serve Papers Via Facebook

a302b writes "A Canberra lawyer has been permitted to serve legal documents via Facebook for a couple who defaulted on a loan. He claims he needed to do this because he was unable to track them down to a physical address. At what point does our online presence become 'real?' And what opportunities are available for fraud, if social networking sites are considered legal representations of ourselves, even when they can be anonymously created under any name?"

Comments

Re:But....

[Whiteox]

3 stories.

1. I went into a cafe and saw an old friend that I haven't seen for years. I went up to his, grabbed him (ermm.. in a manly non-sexual way) and said "Larry! You old bugger! How's things hanging?" At which point I realised it wasn't Larry at all..... I felt like a dick.

2. Small country town. This pretty woman approached me and with a wided eyed look said "OMG! What are you doing here?" Eventually she admitted that I looked exactly like her gynecologist. (No nothing ensued).

3. After I completed uni, I went back for some reason or other and found out and was introduced to another person bearing my exact name (which is pretty unusual as my last name is spelt oddly).
He complained to me that I left such a legacy there that everyone would ask him "So YOU'RE that {firstname lastname} that I keep hearing about!"
Later, I discovered that he altered his last name to avoid confusion... True story.

{grin}