Judge Rules To Reveal Anonymous Blogger's Identity Over Insults

Several readers have written to tell us of a ruling in the New York Supreme Court which will allow model Liskula Cohen to find out the identity of an anonymous blogger who posted some of her photos with captions including the words "psychotic," "skank," and "ho." The site was part of Blogger.com, and Google has already complied with a request for the author's IP address and email. "[Cohen's attorney] said that once his legal team tracks the e-mail address to a name, the next step will be to sue Cohen's detractor for defamation. He said he suspected the creator of the blog is an acquaintance of Cohen. The blog has not been operational for months. The unidentified creator of the blog was represented in court by an attorney, Anne Salisbury, who said her client voluntarily took the blog down when Cohen initiated legal action against it. ... the judge quoted a Virginia court that ruled in a similar case that nameless online taunters should be held accountable when their derision crosses a line. 'The protection of the right to communicate anonymously must be balanced against the need to assure that those persons who choose to abuse the opportunities presented by this medium can be made to answer for such transgressions.'"

Comments

Was it worth breaking privacy?

[alain94040]

For once, it's worth reading TFA until the end, when you find out: that the blog had "minuscule" traffic, it was taken down as soon as the lawsuit was filed, and it only had 5 posts all written in one day. Basically the blog was dead.

Sure, as a public figure, it's never fun to be insulted on the Internet (ask Mike Arrington if you don't believe me). But this didn't seem to warrant a full-fledged lawsuit.

--
Calling all indie iPhone developers: fair and open app crowdsourcing

Re:Was it worth breaking privacy?

[kannibal_klown]

Maybe this anonymous poster isn't so anonymous. Maybe she suspects that it's someone she knows (ex boyfriend, ex friend, stalker, etc). If said person was harassing her in other ways as well, perhaps this could be the straw that broke the camel's back and can allow something to be done about it (such as a TRO).

Re:Was it worth breaking privacy?

[Anonymous Coward]

I suspect that you are my ex-girlfriend stalker that has been harassing me for months and I feel that your post is an intentional attack at me and my public image so as such I am now going to sue to get your IP, email and identity.

Re:Was it worth breaking privacy?

[nbauman]

Maybe this guy.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/07312008/news/regionalnews/bar_goons_smash_and_slash_past_122359.htm

  The Manhattan doorman charged with hurling glasses at a woman's face at the Hudson Hotel served a month in jail for horribly disfiguring a top model by smashing a bottle across her cheek at a posh club last year.

Samir Dervisevic, 25, got into a drinking-tossing dust-up with model Liskula Cohen at Ultra on West 26th Street on Jan. 14, 2007, that ended when he cracked a bottle of vodka across her face, she tearfully recalled yesterday.

Re:Was it worth breaking privacy?

[whoop]

This model was on Good Morning America today, she knew the woman a little bit. Here is more of the story.

"Thank God it was her... she's an irrelevant person in my life," Cohen said. "She's just somebody that, whenever I would go out to a restaurant, to a party in New York City ... she was just that girl that was always there."

AC Apology to a One Robert Malda

[Anonymous Coward]

This humble Anonymous Coward who has invested thousands of hours into the defamation and character assassination of a one Robert Malda of Slashdot would like to beg forgiveness from the very respectable Mr. Malda before he forces a judge to make himself turn over my IP address in order to sue me for slander and libel.

Re:AC Apology to a One Robert Malda

[Trails]

I disagree.

I strongly believe the producing an internet-specific version of libel/slander would re-invigorate the paradigm, enable a net-new market, and actualize synergies of cross-medium defamation that would allow a best-of-breed convergence of mission-critical turnkey insult infomediaries while recontextualizing frictionless compelling channels.

Liskula Cohen is a psychotic, skanky ho.

[realmolo]

So sue me.

Re:Liskula Cohen is a psychotic, skanky ho.

[Em Emalb]

I don't always call people I don't know bad names on the internet, but when I do, I drink Dos Equis.---The most anonymous man in the world

New development!

[Eevee]

The judge today issued a warrant for "I. C. Wiener" of 405 West 43rd Street to appear in court.

Decency Trumps Anonymity

[RobotRunAmok]

And Civilization lurches slightly forward.

Lookit, you want to call Bush a Nazi Warmonger or Obama an Incompetent Puppet, or speak any kind of Truth to Power, I will be shoulder to shoulder with you on the ramparts in defense of your Freedom to Speak, you're a Patriot. You want to call a lady a "skanky ho," try to damage her reputation, and then hide like a coward, you are a Cad.

The Internet has changed many things, but it has not changed everything.

Not quite "Supreme"

[Ollabelle]

Keep in mind that, in New York, the "New York Supreme Court" is their trial court, and its rulings can be overturned on appeal.

Free Speech

[AlHunt]

In my view, we should now preface everything we say with "I think" or "In my opinion". I think. In my opinion, we would then be immune from such lawsuits, which I think are idiotic. At least that's my opinion. Hereby released into the public domain, in my view.

Legislating "Celebrity"

[RobotRunAmok]

In this instance, not only is calling someone a "skank" an opinion, but the person - as a model - is essentially a public figure.

Is she a celebrity? I've never heard of her. My wife does voice-over work and is a news anchor on a bunch of local radio stations. You've never heard of her, but is she "essentially a public figure" and fair game? I know dozens of people who act in and produce independent films, they're all over IMDB, you've never heard of these performers, but they're professional actors and movie producers. Are they "fair game?"

How many people have to recognize your name before you are a "public figure" and thereby forfeit your right to know the identify of your accusers?

Re:Legislating "Celebrity"

[bhsx]

The problem is that you are saying there is a line that gets crossed by the "public figure" making them fair game. Where is the lane? It's a fair question. Who isn't a public figure? If you smiled for a picture you're "modeling" and if that picture ends-up on Facebook are you fair game?
EVERYONE is a public figure.
Richard Daley, Mayor of Chicago, is a public figure.
Late retired Chicago Fire Department Commissioner Rober J. Quinn was a public figure.
My father was Quinn's right hand man... Is HE a public figure?
My father also helped organize the Chicago Firefighter strike of '78 ... we had hundreds of firemen in our house on any given night; does THAT make him a public figure?
What about the other firemen that were at my house? They're public servents, doesn't that make them public figures?
I was in a few plays and musicals in college, does that make ME a public figure? (or gay? no, definitely not gay!)
What about anyone who posts in a public forum? Are THEY public figures?
Are you catching my drift?

what if she is a skank

[pbhj]

This is going to be awesome if it goes to court and the court rules that she is, in fact, "a skank".

I can see the T-shirts now ...

It's people like you that make this a bad ruling

[hamburgler007]

Basically what you are saying is that if I say something insulting and demeaning about someone, and you agree, it is gravy. But if you disagree with me and find it indecent it is a completely different story.

Re:Publicity stunt

[Hatta]

What a cunning stunt it is indeed!