Israel's Supreme Court Says Yes To Internet Anonymity

jonklinger writes "The Israeli Supreme Court ruled this week that there is no civil procedure to reveal the identity of users behind an IP address, and that until such procedure shall be legislated, all internet postings, even tortious, may remain anonymous. The 69-page decision acknowledges the right to privacy and makes internet anonymity de facto a constitutional right in Israel. Justice Rivlin noted that revealing a person behind an IP address is 'an attempt to harness, prior to a legal proceeding, the justice system and a third party in order to conduct an inquiry which will lead to the revealing of a person committing a tort so that a civil suit could be filed against him.'"

Comments

Re:Israel, not Turkey, deserves the European Union

[Panoptes]

I lived and worked in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem in the early nineties, initiating educational projects across the Arab/Jewish divide. I also worked with the Druze and Bedouin communities, so I have a pretty fair knowledge of both the history and the contemporary reality of the place.

I agree that Jaffa, Akko and parts of Jerusalem have harmonious mixed populations. And, yes, some Arabs who fled the country after the declaration of the state of Isreal did leave properties empty. But there are so many cases of blatantly illegal land-grabs and quasi-legal evictions that they will be a permanent stain on Israel's reputation.