Posted on 02/23/2009 4:23:35 AM PST by Virginia Ridgerunner
The company that owns and operates the York Daily Record/Sunday News readers' comment posting Web site will release the identities of people who anonymously posted comments to a story about the stabbing death of Andrew Wright, according to sworn statements Friday in county court.
Prosecutor Timothy Barker informed Judge Thomas H. Kelley on Friday that an attorney for Topix LLC said the Internet Protocol addresses and personal information of the posters "has been preserved" and will be turned over when the company is served with a subpoena by the York County District Attorney's Office.
(snip)
Under oath Friday, York County Detective Jeffrey A. Martz told Kelley that Topix's attorney "advised me a subpoena would be sufficient" to obtain the anonymous posters' personal information.
Kelley had scheduled the hearing to allow argument against the release of the posters' identities from any other concerned parties. No one representing Topix, the newspaper or the defendants appeared in court.
Topix is a national news gathering and public forum company based in Palo Alto, Calif. Daily Record/Sunday News readers who post comments on local stories do so under the terms of Topix.
Daily Record/Sunday News managing editor Randy Parker said Friday that all comments posted to the newspaper's stories are on the Topix Web site and "Topix is ultimately responsible for the comments on their site."
According to Topix's Terms of Service, which are available on the Web page where comments are posted, "Please be aware . . . we will release specific personal information about you if required to do so in order to comply with any valid legal process such as a search warrant, subpoena, statute, or court order."
(Excerpt) Read more at eveningsun.com ...
You do understand that a subpoena is a valid court process? Individuals have always been compelled to come before the court when summoned by a subpoena. You do not have a First Amendment right to hide behind an ISP if you were an eyewitness to a crime. Nor do you have a First Amendment right to defame or libel other individuals from an ISP.
BS!
That’s EXACTLY what I said, when I read your pathetic excuse!
Get a grip! If was trolling for anyone, I would have never posted the story period. The point of the post is DO NOT TRUST Topix if you post there, period, the criminal investigation notwithstanding, since their stated policy now is to buckle under whenever confronted with authority, no matter the circumstances.
If you can't see the danger in that, then by all means, post on.
BS!
That's the problem. You didn't post the 'story'. You posted snippets that fit your paranoia agenda.
The point of the post is DO NOT TRUST Topix if you post there, period, the criminal investigation notwithstanding, since their stated policy now is to buckle under whenever confronted with authority, no matter the circumstances.
What a liar you are.
According to Topix's Terms of Service, which are available on the Web page where comments are posted, "Please be aware . . . we will release specific personal information about you if required to do so in order to comply with any valid legal process such as a search warrant, subpoena, statute, or court order."
Resorting to name calling I see because you don't like my post.
Naughty, naughty!
Not only that but they don’t seem to be able to understand the word ‘if’.
Calling someone a liar, when they ARE a liar is not name calling, it is stating a fact.
“slippery slope alert!”
Right on all counts. Proceedings have not yet reached the preliminary hearing stage, the subpeona is in preparation for the hearing.
When the “Thought Police” start searching for “unlawful thoughts” on FR in order to find “counterrevolutionists” for re-education camps or elimination, will we be protected by our pseudonyms? Naw, never happen here!
Problem is that those probably know nothing about a murder. They are just placing their thoughts on a log. Problem is that the anti-American left is in a position where they can put you in jail if you do not say what they want you to say. Jail and torture and payment of no jail time is used by the black robed left and persecutors to get the lies that they need to go to court and the jury is never told that the person telling the lies was paid or tortured so they would say what the persecutors want them to say. If one does not testify then one is placed in jail (which is torture and in direct violation of the Constitution).
Are you from the area and following the case?
Yes to both.
Cool, as things progress, could you keep us updated?
UPDATE
http://ydr.inyork.com/ci_11785992
Topix: No decision on releasing posters’ info
The York County D.A. wants information on possible eyewitnesses.
By RICK LEE
Daily Record/Sunday News
Posted: 02/25/2009 09:28:10 PM EST
Chris Tolles, CEO of Topix, said he has not decided whether his company will release information on the people who posted comments on a York Daily Record/Sunday News story about a fatal stabbing in Spring Garden Township.
Topix is contracted by the newspaper to operate the comment-posting feature at the bottom of news articles. Topix allows users to post comments anonymously.
The York County District Attorney’s Office is hoping the information it seeks from Topix will lead to witnesses of the stabbing death of Andrew Wright. The 22-year-old was killed inside Jamie’s Courtside Sports & Spirits on Dec. 28. Three men have been arrested.
At a hearing Friday in York County Common Pleas Court, Detective Jeffrey Martz testified under oath that he had spoken to an attorney for Topix and was assured the company would comply with a subpoena requesting the information. After an article on the court testimony was published, Tolles said, people started asking about the company.
“People are upset that we would give up the anonymous identities of people to court. The public perception is that we already have,” Tolles said Wednesday.
“I’ve taken a hit for this before I’ve even made my decision.”
In interviews Tuesday and Wednesday, Tolles stated repeatedly that, “No one is authorized to say what I will do.” He also said “it is premature to say that we are cooperating with the court. You cannot say I will do something until I say I will.
“My attorney does not speak for me. My lawyer does not have the nuanced understanding of what I do.”
Those statements came as a surprise to Chief Deputy Prosecutor Chuck Patterson, who is handling the homicide case, and prosecutor Timothy Barker, who put Martz on the witness stand in front of Judge Thomas H. Kelley on Friday.
Martz told Kelley that Philip Keating, who he identified as Topix’s Pittsburgh-based attorney, “advised me a subpoena would be sufficient” to obtain the anonymous posters’ Internet Service Providers.
On Wednesday, Patterson, who was not at Friday’s hearing, said he also had spoken to Keating.
“He told me, ‘Unless you hear from me otherwise, I’ll consider your phone call notice,’” Patterson said. “I took that to be there was no opposition unless they notified us that there was.”
Keating did not attend Friday’s hearing, and Tolles said Wednesday he was unaware of the hearing. Tolles also said Keating is now barred from speaking to the media about the ongoing matter.
Tolles initially argued the Daily Record story on Friday’s hearing was factually inaccurate, that sworn testimony in York County had no legal standing with his company and that Martz, by contacting Keating about posters’ information, had “a lack of understanding of the process.”
After speaking with Keating, Tolles said Wednesday the initial story was “not factually incorrect” and that Martz, to the best of Tolles’ knowledge, gave fair and honest testimony.
However, Tolles still contends that he is not legally bound by Martz’s statement to comply with any subpoena.
After Friday’s hearing, Martz sent a subpoena to the “Custodian of Records of Topix LLC” in Palo Alto, Calif. Tolles said Wednesday he has not yet received the subpoena.
Tolles said that, after he reviews the subpoena, he may or may not comply with the request.
“If he wants to fight it, that is his decision,” Patterson said. “The bottom line is, we have a murder investigation and we are looking for witnesses.”
Patterson said Friday’s hearing was scheduled to allow for any argument from Topix’s attorneys about the request. He said if Keating had expressed any hesitation about complying with a subpoena, the commonwealth would have asked Kelley to issue a court order allowing them to seek the information through a subpoena filed in California court.
“Judge Kelley didn’t issue an order because of Detective Martz’s sworn statement,” Patterson said. “There appeared to be no opposition.
“We can go back to court and get an order to proceed through the California court. We are trying to get any information we can obtain. This is just the first step.”
If they don’t turn over the information, wouldn’t obstruction of justice come into play?
True, but there are major jurisdictional issues involved...PA District Attorney vs. California dot com company.
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