Posted on 03/06/2011 9:33:44 AM PST by digger48
INDIANAPOLIS — A judge in a defamation case has ordered news media outlets in Indianapolis to reveal information that could help identify people who posted disparaging comments about an official on their online forums.
An Indiana journalism shield law that protects reporters from having to reveal their sources doesn't protect web sites from being forced to disclose who made anonymous posts, Marion Superior Court Judge S.K. Reid ruled.
Reid held that The Indianapolis Star and the Indianapolis Business Journal must provide names or other information that would help Jeffrey Miller, the former chief executive of Junior Achievement of Central Indiana, identify who wrote online comments that described him as "greedy" and warranting an investigation by the state attorney general.
Kevin Betz, an attorney for Miller, told the Star the rulings were the first of their kind in Indiana.
The case is part of a national trend of claims that target anonymous Internet posters to web sites operated by news media and other owners, the Star reported.
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
First, you aren’t subpoenaed, the ISP is. You would be a party to the case if sued for defamation.
If one took the actions you suggested, it would be a good way to get a spoliation of evidence sanction, which would likely involve in both monetary penalties AND deeming whatever you destroyed as admitted in the case against you.
There is no “beyond a reasonable doubt” presumption in a civil defamation action.
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I’m Spartacus and I say that Jeffrey Miller, the former chief executive of Junior Achievement of Central Indiana, is “greedy” and warrants an investigation by the state attorney general.
Next thing this judge will do is rule that Pi = 3 again.
S.L.A.P.P. by a different name !
> Smells like the Alien and Sedition Act by judicial decree.
That is crazy
This “Judge” needs to read the Federalist papers and notice how we Americans have a very long history of anonymous debate.
Frequently anonymous debate is the only way we can have an honest debate against folk that we would otherwise regard as our friends.
So are you saying that if I spread a rumor on the internet that you are a gay, homosexual, pedophile serial killer just before you apply for a job you should just grin and put up with it?
Are you saying that your good name and reputation can be destroyed by just anybody and you have no recourse because it was on the internet?
I think civility ended when they substituted lawyers for duels, but I’ll be damned if I will let somebody say something vicious and untrue about me or mine, regardless if it is to my face, on paper print or just electrons.
If you believe other wise you are no better than a hacker who steals a persons identity.
>>>Gee, libel is still libel in a screen just as it was with paper... And that pesky legal process still requires a court proceeding and there is still discovery and subpoenas to deal with.... This is an unproblem.<<<<
This is true. If anyone ever libeled me by name online, I’d do the same thing.
Seeking redress for damages to reputation throughout the published word is not a totalitarian scheme to deprive you of First Amendment rights. Libel is a long-established civil action.
The solution is easy. Don’t use the Internet to lie about other people or smear them in the community. All of the established precedents about public figures and political comment remain in place. Ultimately, if what you’re writing is the truth, that’s all the defense you need.
Junior Achievement, by the way, is a pro-business group working with students helping them learn about setting up your own business and running it on your own. All the JA people I’ve ever worked with have been really good folks, and it’s about as opposite from the left as you can get.
In fact, I’ve expected libel suits to start emerging from the Internet sometime soon. An online pseudonym is not protection against writing libel, and it wasn’t in the print era, either. You reap what you sow.
Miller’s attorney, Kevin Betz, would not comment further on the case. He said he didn’t know the details about Miller’s intended role with the city.
He’s either lying or a pretty poor attorney.
I’d go with lying.
Would a newspaper be allowed to protect the identity of an letter writer who made a defamatory statement that was then printed by the paper on its editorial page?
It sounds like the issue is that the paper is expected to take ownership of its online comments section just as it would a letter to the editor.
S.L.A.P.P. by a different name !
I agree, and I suspect that's what this is all about -- getting at Internet posters and sites like FR and LibertyPost, to SLAPP them down and suppress "unhelpful" Internet opinions, and reduce competition for government and NGO Mau-Mau posters.
Everyone knows that all conservative posts are lies. Everyone knows that conservative posters must be "held accountable" for their lies, and that their liability is both existential and infinite.
Crank up the firing squads.
That’s why the first amendment is followed directly by the second amendment. The desire by the powerful and the elite to censor the people predates the Internet. In fact, it predates electricity, and it probably predates the wheel.
You are free to write what you want, but you’re responsible for damages. Rule of law 101.
I don’t trust these “journalist shield” laws. Who’s a journalist now—any blogger, a paid blogger, or what? Either shield everyone, or no one at all...
Anyone who takes an anonymous troll on the internet that seriously really has a bad case of butthurt.
Ain't nothin' compared to suffering his reputation will incur by filing this lawsuit.
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