Thursday, August 27, 2009

Wanted: Cyberbullies

Just last week, New York Supreme Court Judge Joan Madden ruled that a model who was slammed with derogatory terms by an anonymous blogger has the right to learn the identity of her online heckler.
A user of Blogger.com, Google’s blogging service, created “Skanks in NYC”, where it posted pictures of Liskula Cohen, a model, with derogatory captions. With this factual backdrop, the New York Court directed Google to divulge any identifying information it has about the blog’s creator to Cohen. The court cited a Virginia court ruling which held that “the protection of the right to communicate anonymously must be balanced against the need to assure that those persons who choose to abuse the opportunities presented by this medium can be made to answer for such transgressions.”
It was reported that Google has already complied with the order and submitted to Cohen’s legal team the creator’s IP address and e-mail address. With these information, it will now be possible for Cohen to trace the identity of her heckler and sue him/her for defamation.

1 comment:

Ma. Lourdes C. Polido said...

anonymity is always an option for an internet user. once you are a virtual unknown, there is an increased willingness to criticize. in this case, it is not just a matter of criticisms, his entry is downright malicious.