Google vs Model vs Blogger vs Free Speach
I know the title is a little odd but it is accurate.
You see the internets has become a little less anonymous
A former Australian Vogue cover girl, Liskula Cohen has, successfully, taken Google to court in Manhattan over comments made by a blogger, under the username Anonymous (wtf? that's the best you can come up with? - FFS use your melon lady), over comments made on the The Skanks in NYC blog.
New York supreme court judge, Joan Madden, rejected the blogger's claim that the blogs were a "modern day forum for conveying personal opinions, including invective and ranting" and should not be treated as factual assertions.
Judge Madden quoted a ruling by a Virginia court, in a similar case that said that anonymous online taunters should be held accountable, when their derision goes too far.
Steven Wagner, a lawyer for Miss Cohen, said he was pleased that the judge agreed that the internet should not be a place where poeple could be defamed and get away with it.
Google said it complied with the ruling by supplying the blogger's IP and email addresses to Miss Cohen's lawyers. The post was removed as soon as Miss Cohen took legal action. Ms. Cohen's lawyers said the blogger would now be sued for defamation.
Anne Salisbury, a lawyer who represented the blogger in court, accused Ms. Cohen of bringing the case to attract publicity rather than restore her reputation, Ms. Salisbury also pointed out that the blog attracted little attention when O.P'd and would have remained in obscurity had she not sued. I have to agree with this, Paris Hilton has not once sued (AFAIK at least - I don't pay alot of attention to celebretards, or any others for that matter) for defamation about the crap that is written about her in the mags, or on the net. Neither has any celeb that has been outed by Perez Hilton.
Ms. Salisbury warned that the ruling has dangerous implications regarding free speech on the internet, her clients language was not unusual on the internet and that such name-calling was rampant on some comments sections, blogs and Twitter, and other sites.
Google said it sympathised with the victims of "cyberbullying" but also respected privacy concerns. As a result, it only divulged user information when ordered by a court to do so. Google said it was within its rights to release the information because users agree to a privacy policy that allows the company to share personal information if required by a legal action.
I wonder how all this would work in a country where we do not have a bill of rights, the easy option and let's face it the only one we have it to follow Rule #1 : Don't get caught.
If you are going to make a defamatory post about someone on the Net, here is a basic guideline :
Describe them in oblique terminology.
Vague references to other persons of interest that may or may not have been present at the time.
Throw in a smattering of innuendo and you should be right.
Obscure references to the location of where the events took place.
Finally get a real username, I know this last bit wont help much if you get sued but I cant help myself, Anonymous - really? come on, people that stupid should not be allowed on the net.
Crap I could be sued for that, hang on it's a fact, I'm saved!
You see the internets has become a little less anonymous
A former Australian Vogue cover girl, Liskula Cohen has, successfully, taken Google to court in Manhattan over comments made by a blogger, under the username Anonymous (wtf? that's the best you can come up with? - FFS use your melon lady), over comments made on the The Skanks in NYC blog.
New York supreme court judge, Joan Madden, rejected the blogger's claim that the blogs were a "modern day forum for conveying personal opinions, including invective and ranting" and should not be treated as factual assertions.
Judge Madden quoted a ruling by a Virginia court, in a similar case that said that anonymous online taunters should be held accountable, when their derision goes too far.
Steven Wagner, a lawyer for Miss Cohen, said he was pleased that the judge agreed that the internet should not be a place where poeple could be defamed and get away with it.
Google said it complied with the ruling by supplying the blogger's IP and email addresses to Miss Cohen's lawyers. The post was removed as soon as Miss Cohen took legal action. Ms. Cohen's lawyers said the blogger would now be sued for defamation.
Anne Salisbury, a lawyer who represented the blogger in court, accused Ms. Cohen of bringing the case to attract publicity rather than restore her reputation, Ms. Salisbury also pointed out that the blog attracted little attention when O.P'd and would have remained in obscurity had she not sued. I have to agree with this, Paris Hilton has not once sued (AFAIK at least - I don't pay alot of attention to celebretards, or any others for that matter) for defamation about the crap that is written about her in the mags, or on the net. Neither has any celeb that has been outed by Perez Hilton.
Ms. Salisbury warned that the ruling has dangerous implications regarding free speech on the internet, her clients language was not unusual on the internet and that such name-calling was rampant on some comments sections, blogs and Twitter, and other sites.
Google said it sympathised with the victims of "cyberbullying" but also respected privacy concerns. As a result, it only divulged user information when ordered by a court to do so. Google said it was within its rights to release the information because users agree to a privacy policy that allows the company to share personal information if required by a legal action.
I wonder how all this would work in a country where we do not have a bill of rights, the easy option and let's face it the only one we have it to follow Rule #1 : Don't get caught.
If you are going to make a defamatory post about someone on the Net, here is a basic guideline :
Describe them in oblique terminology.
Vague references to other persons of interest that may or may not have been present at the time.
Throw in a smattering of innuendo and you should be right.
Obscure references to the location of where the events took place.
Finally get a real username, I know this last bit wont help much if you get sued but I cant help myself, Anonymous - really? come on, people that stupid should not be allowed on the net.
Crap I could be sued for that, hang on it's a fact, I'm saved!