Texas Judge Orders Identification of Topix Trolls

eldavojohn writes "Ars Technica has a story on a Texas judge who has ordered Topix.com to hand over the identifying details of 178 trolls that allegedly made 'perverted, sick, vile, inhumane accusations' about Mark & Rhonda Lesher. Mark Lesher was accused of sexually assaulting an unidentified former client (and subsequently found not guilty) which prompted the not so understanding discussions on Topix. Topix has until March 6 to give up the information. Let's hope the Leshers don't visit Slashdot!"

Comments

What happens if...

[The MAZZTer]

...they never logged identifying details?

Re:Seems like the correct procedure

[moosesocks]

Having perused the Topix forum for my local community, I'm honestly not surprised.

Literally half of the posts there are personal attacks, bigoted remarks, or slander of some kind.

My first time reading \b was less harmful to my outlook on humanity...

The future of libel

[FiveDozenWhales]

It seems like this kind of legal issue is popping up in the news more and more. With the increased media coverage of *channers trolling people, the "cyberbullying" scares of the past 10 years or so, and things like the Megan Meier case, libel and other forms of online harassment are becoming more of an issue.

Maybe it's just me, but I see parallels between this issue and that of copyright. Both are laws designed long ago, before the semi-anonymous mass-communication that is the internet, and both are facing the fact that this new technology challenges the very foundation of these laws.

Re:The future of libel

[Dog-Cow]

There's a difference between offensive and libelous speech. I agree that there should not be any particular legal consequences for offensive speech, but I disagree that libel should be treated the same. Part of the legal definition or condition for libel is that harm is caused and that such harm is demonstrated to the Court.

Again, punishment is for the harm, not the speech.

Re:Seems like the correct procedure

[0100010001010011]

Topix is registered in Washington and hosted in California. What happens if they refuse? Is the judge going to 'ban' them from Texas? What if the posters are in Indiana or Europe?

How do they plan on identifying people that are more than likely pseudonyms? Most forums I'm on I have a random name generator give me a name and it goes to a generic gmail account.

Re:Strange Loop Troll

[Hatta]

First, it wouldn't be slander, it would be libel. Slander is spoken. Libel is written.

I've always thought that was a silly distinction for the law to make. The words are the problem, not the medium. What difference does it make whether it was spoken or written?

And what happens if I slander someone, and someone else writes it down? Am I guilty of libel now that my statements have been committed to paper?

No trolls!

[Hordeking]

I find it ironic that none of the responses to this article, as of 3:25pm on Feb 11, 2009 have been marked as trolls. Nay, even the usual troll posts haven't shown up yet...a first in /. history! I shall mark this day on my calendar.