D.C. appellate court rules for whistelblower’s anonymity

The District of Columbia Court of Appeals ruled that a software trade association did not have to disclose the name of an anonymous tipster. Solers, a software company, had sued the trade association to determine the identity of the tipster who they claimed made a false accusation that the company used unlicensed software. -db From [...]

Comments using pseudonyms of higher quality

Disqus which provides commenting services for news websites and blogs says that those using pseudonyms are the most likely to post quality comments that elicit positive feedback (likes) and replies. Sixty-one percent use pseudonyms, 35 percent are anonymous and 4 percent use their real identity. -db From the Poynter Institute, January 11, 2012, by Jeff [...]

New software protects anonymous speakers on Internet

Graduate students are developing software that could be used to protect whistleblowers, human rights advocates, and hackers. -db From The New York Times, January 3, 2012, by Nicole Perlroth. Full story  

Internet free speech: Federal judge dismisses stalker case

A federal judge rejected a claim against a man who relentlessly pursued a religious leader on Twitter in a groundbreaking case on free speech and cyberstalking. The judge said while the speech inflicted “substantial emotional distress,” “nucomfortable speech” was protected under the First Amendment. -db From The New York Times, December 15, 2011, by Somini [...]

California: Former Manhattan Beach city manager sues for invasion of privacy

A former Manhattan Beach city manager is suing the city for disclosing records that he claims were supposed to be secret as part of a severance package. The city attorney said the city was acting in the public interest in its commitment to transparency. The former city manager felt that allegations of sexual harassment made [...]

Federal judge rules critic of international spiritual organization can remain anonymous

A federal district judge in San Jose ruled that a blogger does not have to reveal his identity to the Art of Living Foundation that promotes spirituality lessons of Ravi Shankar. The blogger had published criticisms of the foundation along with one of  their manuals, an act that the foundation said infringed its copyright. The [...]

Blogger’s right to anonymity upheld in federal court

A federal district judge held that a blogger could remain anonymous since his First Amendment rights were paramont to discovery needs in a defamation case. The “Skywalker,” as the blogger is known, is charged with defaming the spiritual leader of the Art of Living Foundation. From the Courthouse News Service, November 16, 2011, by Maria [...]

EFF argues for right to online anonymity

In reaction to a Washington Times editorial, an EFF commentary argues that online anonymity is crucial to protect the free speech rights of vulnerable citizens from gay youth to Syrian dissidents. The Times editorial called for the end to online anonymity arguing that it was needed to reestablish civility given the vicious lies and hateful [...]

Tradition of anonymous speech threatened by vicious defamatory postings

Cyberbullies have sullied Internet freedom in defamatory and cruel attacks against innocent citizens that have ruined lives. It is difficult to know what to do about it while defending the American tradition of anonymous speech, especially speech critical of the government. A Chicago lawyer makes a proposal that he thinks balances the interests of those [...]

Washington: Local police seek anonymous creator of cop parody videos

Renton, Washington police are seeking the identity of the creator of some videos critical of their department in what they describe as a cyberstalking investigation. Police are asking Google to reveal the name of the creator using the pseudonym “Mrfuddlesticks.” The videos contain profanity and sexual content and name members of the department. The affadavit [...]

EFF director argues for use of online pseudonyms

With advent of the Google+ policy requiring users to identify by “the name your friend, family or do-workers usually call you,” Jillian York, a director for the Electronic Freedom Foundation argues that the benefits of pseudonyms outweigh the negatives, particularly for gays and other people subject to violence or harassment such as victims of domestic [...]

Opinion: Federal judge said to weaken protection for anonymous speech

A Lebonese conglomerate with ties to Hezbollah won a judgment in federal court allowing a supoena to ISP Skybeam a host of anonymous postings that the conglomerate claim defamed them. The conglomerate is seeking to identify those responsible for the posts that alleged that to buy from the fashion company owned by the conglomerate provided [...]

United Nations report calls for states to safeguard online freedom of expression

The United Nations will begin discussion this week about online freedom of expression after hearing a special report that advocates protecting privacy and anonymous speech online. The UN report questions the use of surveillance under the guise of national security or counter-terrorism. The report’s author, Frank La Rue, said surveillance measures “often [take] place for [...]

Judge orders Google to reveal name of YouTube cyberbully

Google has 15 days to reveal the identity of a person who posted comments calling a Columbia MBA graduate a “whore,” “a shank,” and “an old hag.” -db New York Daily News October 15, 2010 By Jose Martinez Columbia MBA graduate Carla Franklin went after Google in August in an attempt to unmask her online [...]

Great Britain: Oil firms may sue for false rumors on websites

Two small British oil firms say they are not after legitimate anonymous postings but want to rein in postings on private investor websites that contain “calculated lies”  that manipulate share prices. -db Yahoo! News August 9, 2010 By Myles Neligan and Rhys Jones (Reuters) Two small British oil firms on Monday said they were considering [...]

Supreme Court rules names on anti-gay petition can be made public

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled for public disclosure of names on a petition to overturn a gay rights law in Washington state. Those for disclosure say it is an important victory for the public’s right to check signatures and to discover who are supporting particular political stances. -db SeattlePI.com June 24, 2010 By Chris Grygiel [...]

Attorney allowed to sue over allegedly defamatory anonymous messages on Craigslist

A California district Court of Appeal ruled that a Woodland Hills attorney could sue an anonymous poster for accusing him of committing illegal acts. The court said the posts were neither political speech nor in the public interest and did not qualify for protection under the state’s anti-SLAPP law. -db Metropolitan News-Enterprise June 1, 2010 [...]

Pennsylvania attorney general dropping subpoena of Twitter for critics’ identity

The Pennsylvania attorney general has decided not to subpoena Twitter for the identity of critics of his successful conviction in a recent political corruption investigation. In asking for the subpoena, Attorney General Tom Corbett was attempting to find out if one of the critics was the man convicted of corruption to determine if the man [...]

Blogger challenges subpoena ordering Twitter to reveal his identity after critical posts on Pennsylvania politician

A blogger on Twitter is challenging a grand jury subpoena seeking his identity after he posted criticism of Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett. The subpoenas are usually limited to criminal cases, and the grand jury did not say what crime the blogger committed. -db Wired May 19, 2010 By David Kravets An anonymous blogger critical [...]

First Amendment: Federal judge protects anonymity of online critic of Pennsylvania corporation

A federal judge not only scuttled a subpoena to out an online critic of USA Technologies but also ruled that the critic’s charge that the company’s pay packages were “legalized highway robbery” was protected  speech under the First Amendment. -db Electronic Freedom Foundation Press Release May 19, 2010 SAN FRANCISCO – A federal judge in [...]

News publications reconsider policy on anonymous online comments

Momentum gathers for changes in policies governing anonymous comments in online publications. Publications are looking more favorably on trusted sources willing to reveal their identities. -db The New York Times April 11, 2010 By Richard Pérez-Peńa From the start, Internet users have taken for granted that the territory was both a free-for-all and a digital [...]

County judge sues newspaper for linking her e-mail account to online posts

An Ohio judge is suing the Cleveland’s The Plain Dealer for $50 million in damages for violating their privacy policy in revealing that the judge’s daughter wrote more than 80 posts on legal matters for their online edition. The newspaper claimed that questions about the propriety of the comments outweighed the privacy interests of the [...]

Cleveland newspaper causes stir by unmasking anonymous poster – a judge

In revealing the identity of a person posting comments on their site under the moniker “lawmiss”, the Cleveland Plain Dealer believed that the public’s right to know outweighed the importance of protecting the privacy of anonymous commentators. The “lawmiss” postings, it turned out, came from the e-mail address of a judge. -db The Plain Dealer [...]

Anonymous speech: Federal court protects identities of posters on news website

A Pennsylvania federal court will not allow a man suing in an employment discrimination case to discover the identities of those making posts on a new website. The man wanted the identities to discredit the testimony of those who fired him. -db Citizen Media Law Project Commentary March 8, 2010 By Sam Bayard Thomas O’Toole [...]

EFF: Court order to shut down websites sets dangerous precedent

The Electronic Frontier Foundation argues that when a New Jersey court shut down three websites allegedly running defamatory messages, it  disregarded federal law and ignored the First Amendment. -DB Electronic Frontier Foundation Legal Analysis January 7, 2010 By Kurt Opsahl Over the holidays, a New Jersey court issued an order requiring upstream providers to shut [...]

Women’s group sues Google for bloggers’ defamation

The National Association of Professional Women is suing Google and three other Web sites for publishing bloggers’ statements that say the organization is a scam. -DB Courthouse News Service December 31, 2009 By Barbara Leonard MINEOLA, N.Y. – The National Association of Professional Women claims Google and three other Web sites defamed it by allowing [...]

Online debate between candidate’s son and unidentified writer provokes another dispute over anonymous speech

Citizen Media Law Project blogger Marc Randazza says that although a comment made by an adult to a teen-ager in an online debate was malicious and juvenile, it was not defamatory and should enjoy First Amendment  protection given court decisions on the right to speak anonymously. -DB To read Marc’s full comment, go here: Citizen Media [...]

Federal judge orders Prop. 8 backers to cough up campaign strategy documents without delay

Backers of proposition 8 were hoping to delay turning over campaign records while appealing  a court order to surrender the documents. But a district federal judge ordered them to relinquish the documents so that Prop. 8 opponents could examine them for anti gay bias. -DB San Francisco Chronicle October 26, 2009 Bob Egelko SAN FRANCISCO — [...]

University of Colorado denies football press passes to websites that post anonymous comments

INDenver Times no longer runs comments on football stories in their online edition in response to University of Colorado’s policy to refuse press passes to websites who allow pseudonymous posts or anonymous comments. The university is concerned about defamatory and irresponsible comments about players and coaches. -DB Denver Westword Denver New Blog September 25, 2009 By Michael [...]

UC Davis case: Judge suggests avenue to determine identity of anonymous bloggers

Although a Sacramento judge ruled substantially in favor of a blog operator who was trying to keep secret the identities of his bloggers, she also said the plaintiff in the case could hire someone to conduct a search for the identities. -DB The Sacramento Bee September 14, 2009 By Hudson Sangree Those anonymous comments you’ve [...]

Don’t ban anonymity urges one legal expert

While siding with Google against the blogger who defamed the model by calling her a “skank”, a First Amendment advocate argues that it is important to protect anonymity of some contemptible speakers to safeguard the freedom of others such as whistleblowers and dissenters in totalitarian regimes to remain anonymous. -DB Citizen Media Law Project Commentary August [...]

Blogger of venomous insults sues Google for outing her

Legal experts think that a fashion student’s suit against Google has little chance of success. She had anonymously called a model a “shank” and was subsequently identified by Google. -DB San Francisco Chronicle August 28, 2009 By James Temple The blogger who anonymously tarred a fashion model as a “skank” before being outed by Google Inc. [...]

Blogger intends to sue Google over outing

After Google revealed the identity of an anonymous blogger, her lawyer promised to sue citing the First Amendment right to speak anonymously. -DB Wired August 24, 2009 By Kim Zetter An anonymous blogger unmasked by Google last week following a court order has vowed to sue the internet giant for violating her privacy. Rosemary Port, who [...]

District of Columbia sets bar higher for revealing anonymity of Internet commentators

The District of Columbia high court established new strict guidelines for plaintiffs seeking the identify of online commentators. -DB Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press August 14, 2009 By Rory Eastburg The District of Columbia’s highest court Thursday announced a demanding new standard that plaintiffs must meet before they can obtain the names of anonymous [...]

A&A: Is your personal information safe if Microsoft or Google is subpoenaed?

Q: Do you know what information Yahoo or Microsoft give away if there is a subpoena asking the identity of email account?  Do they give away actual emails or just IP logon data and personal info from registration?  How would someone stop the discovery if he wanted to stay anonymous? A: Unfortunately, I don’t know [...]