Canadian Court Orders Site To ID Anonymous Posters

An anonymous reader writes "A Canadian court has ordered the owners of the FreeDominion.ca to disclose all personal information on eight anonymous posters to the chat site. The required information includes email and IP addresses. The court ruled that anonymous posters have no reasonable expectation of privacy, a major blow to online free speech in Canada."

Comments

Good luck

[sakdoctor]

I'm behind 7 proxies

Re:Good luck

[ShieldW0lf]

Which will just as effectively cripple free speech as going directly after the posters in the first place.

If you need to post anonymously, you didn't have free speech in the first place.

Re:Good luck

[Kjella]

If you need to post anonymously, you didn't have free speech in the first place.

You may have freedom from the government, but you can never be free from judgement by your peers. Posting anonymously has long been the best way to spread uncomfortable truths without facing the public backlash that inevitably leads to self-censorship. Someone with your sig ought to know, unless you're just a poser.

Re:Good luck

[arkhan_jg]

It's even worse that that. In our brave new world where everything you've ever said online is indexed and recorded by google et al; and corporate judgements of our personality - and employability - can be made based upon some 10 year old blog posting, it's crucial that anonymous speech be defended.

Voting is anonymous for a reason; people can be pressured into voting a certain way by businesses, threatened to be fired if they don't vote as instructed and hand over their ballot receipt as proof. With no voter receipt, and privacy in the voting booth, this protects voters from unfair co-oercion by the powerful.

These days, instead of that private conversation by the watercooler or in the pub where people express their opinions - and gripes - beyond the ears of their manager, instead, it's on the likes of twitter, facebook and slashdot.

How can we have freedom of speech in our names, on our own time, when we fear for our very livelihoods because every word we ever utter will be pored over by some bored manager or HR guy, regardless of whether it's any way related to or the business of the company?

Anonymous and pseudonymous speech allows us to carve out a little bit of our lives and keep them for ourselves and our friends, and not be constantly looking over our shoulders in fear at government or company in case we're perceived to be less than an ideal citizen.

Something interseting

[DaveV1.0]

I noticed the blogger doesn't mention anything about the case itself. I wonder how knowing the particulars of the case might effect the response of slashdot posters.

Re:Anonymous speak Free speech

[Yamamato]

Saying something anonymously is not part of that definition.

Anonymous expression has always been a cornerstone of free speech/expression. The only way you can say it's not is to ignore the centuries of western commentary on exactly this subject.

Re:A Canadian

[v1]

The court ruled that anonymous posters have no reasonable expectation of privacy

I wonder what then the court considers to be a "reasonable expectation of privacy"? Sorry, here or anywhere else, when I click the "post anonymously" button I have a reasonable expectation of privacy. Now what they happen to log etc I can understand, but there's an expectation of at least a measure of privacy. If Joe Troll emails /. asking for my IP I expect them to say get lost. But if they get a subpoena I expect them to get the IP. That's where "reasonable" lies in my opinion.

Re:Free speech?

[tjonnyc999]

Anonymity has a higher purpose than being used only for hiding behind while making threats/posting illegal activity.

It is one of the foundations of freedom of speech and democracy, allowing citizens to voice their concerns and opinions without fear of prosecution or ridicule.

It reminds us to place principles before personalities, allowing logic to take precedent over emotions.

P.S. It's a bit ironic to hear an admonition to "be brave for once and say what you want in the open" - from an Anonymous Coward. LOL. Good job. Alanis Morrisette would be proud.

Re:Anonymous speak Free speech

[roystgnr]

Saying something anonymously is not part of that definition.

Common Sense would indicate otherwise.

Re:Rock and hard place.

[Locklin]

It's called an anonymous informant and a journalist.

Re:Free Speech vs Privacy

[Overzeetop]

On the contrary, the right to privacy and anonymity is one of the base requirements for the existence of free speech. Without a guarantee of privacy, much speech which dissents from the mainstream, identifies graft and corruption, or identifies wrong-doers would be stifled if there were consequences for the speaker. Whether it's a bully stealing lunch money, a contractor putting beach sand in concrete for a building, a tip line for identifying/finding criminals, or a Governor selling a senate seat - the implications of telling the truth which is detrimental to a powerful individual can be a personal risk which is just not tenable.

Yes, privacy can be used for evil; however it is critical that is be available.

Canadian Loss of Freedom

[b4upoo]

It sounds like Canada must be married to Australia with this nonsense court ruling. Must we all now go to a public library or internet cafe in order to be able to post anonymously? Somebody should act up and get rude and loud until governments get the message. Freedom of communications is not in the hands of governments to regulate. This freedom belongs only to individuals not to states.