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Judge Orders Google to Identify 'Skanks' Blogger http://www.switched.com/2...ks-blogger
Wow, so she was able to get a judge to force Google to reveal the identity of the individual insulting her on a website, plus their email and IP address. This will be an interesting case to watch, and see how this will affect other sites, where individuals offend others with namecalling and other insults, if she decides to go through with the law suit. Just the fact that she was able to do that leaves the door open for celebrities and others to sue, and demand the identity/email/IP address(es) of fans/non-fans that insult/offend/degrade them, and possibly the closing down of some sites....  Interesting indeed.
Remember back in January when model Liskula Cohen was the target of a blog called 'Skanks in NYC?' The Google Blogger-hosted site featured embarrassing, personal photos of Cohen, and the anonymous author said of her: "I would have to say that first place award for 'Skankiest in NYC' would have to go to Liskula Gentile Cohen." [b]The site was quickly taken down when Cohen decided to try and take legal action, but Google refused to hand over the blogger's identity, unless ordered to do so by a court.[/b]
"Well, Miss Cohen has succeeded. According to the Telegraph, the Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Joan Madden ordered Google on Monday to hand over the blogger's e-mail and IP addresses. Google gave the information to Cohen's lawyers, who plan to sue the blogger for defamation. In court, Anne Salisbury, the lawyer representing the blogger, accused Cohen of simply trying to attract publicity, not repair her reputation, since the blog was not widely known until she attempted legal action. Cohen told 'Good Morning America' on Wednesday that the blogger was a former acquaintance. She said, "Thank God it was her... she's an irrelevant person in my life. She's just somebody that, whenever I would go out to a restaurant, to a party in New York City ... she was just that girl that was always there." Cohen went on to tell Diane Sawyer that she called the blogger and said, "I just want you to know that if I've ever done anything to you to actually deserve this then I'm really very sorry. I'm sincerely apologetic." The model told the New York Post that the blogger was a bit tongue-tied during the call, responding with "Um, um, um," after being confronted. While Cohen still plans to sue, she may reconsider if the blogger offers an apology. This is a case that many, especially privacy experts, will be watching closely, now that Google has been ordered to divulge the identity of a customer. If simply calling Cohen a "skank" online is ruled to be defamation, it may open the door for more litigation against the hordes on Facebook, Twitter, and the like who loudly hurl insults at celebrities and one another. In fact, if simply calling someone a name on the Internet is grounds for legal action, some of the commenters on this site are guilty of defamation. But don't worry, we won't be taking legal action against you, no matter how many times you call us stupid, ignorant, or things that we can't repeat." [Edited 8/20/09 10:53am] | |
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 Don't the courts have anything better to focus on??? | |
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SCNDLS said: Don't the courts have anything better to focus on???No..... | |
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Hmmm, you'd think a judge would have thicker skin. I'm firmly planted in denial |
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This one is not clear cut to me.
On the one hand, calling somebody a skank should be perfectly acceptable. I mean, sometimes moonbeam can be a real skank. But on the other, who here wouldn't be mortified if your photos, which you didn't approve to be posted ended up on the Internet with a bunch of crazy things said about you? What if you were in a profession which required you maintain a certain image? Being labelled a whore or a skank could affect your bottom line. I think this is one of the reasons why Tom Cruise won't just come out of the closet already. And for folks to constantly post his image with those homosexual rumors and such--well, from his point of view, this could affect his livelihood. What if you ran a computer business and somebody posted your picture saying "dumbass" or something to that affect which you'd perceive as affecting your credibility as a tech? As blown out of proportion as I think this is, I can sort of see her point of view. | |
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Prince is a skank! | |
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If you want to have the right to insult people, the person who is being insulted has the right to know who is doing the insulting. | |
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JustErin said: If you want to have the right to insult people, the person who is being insulted has the right to know who is doing the insulting.
True, especially if they do it on a consistent basis to the same individual. Maybe she felt she was being stalked. [Edited 8/20/09 10:38am] | |
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SCNDLS said: Don't the courts have anything better to focus on??? Who knows..seeing how the courts forced google to hand over the private information of the blogger, seems to open the doors, regarding privacy issues for members of websites, especially if someone wants to do the same thing this model did I guess.  [Edited 8/20/09 10:54am] | |
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2elijah said: SCNDLS said:
:rolleyes: Don't the courts have anything better to focus on???
Who knows..seeing how the courts forced google to hand over the private information of the blogger, seems to open the doors, regarding privacy issues for members of websites, especially if someone wants to do the same thing this model did I guess.
[Edited 8/20/09 10:54am] Actually, she didn't exactly sue Google; she just got a court order for Google to turn over the name of the blogger and IP account because the blogger was using services which were hosted by Goggle itself. (Blogger) Now if the blogger had been using Wordpress and just put the Wordpress template on his own hosting site, then it would have been much more difficult for this model to go after the blogger because she would not only have to go after the blogger's hosting company but the ISP as well.  | |
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728huey said: 2elijah said:
SCNDLS said:
Who knows..seeing how the courts forced google to hand over the private information of the blogger, seems to open the doors, regarding privacy issues for members of websites, especially if someone wants to do the same thing this model did I guess.
[Edited 8/20/09 10:54am] Actually, she didn't exactly sue Google; she just got a court order for Google to turn over the name of the blogger and IP account because the blogger was using services which were hosted by Goggle itself. (Blogger) Now if the blogger had been using Wordpress and just put the Wordpress template on his own hosting site, then it would have been much more difficult for this model to go after the blogger because she would not only have to go after the blogger's hosting company but the ISP as well. I never said she was suing Google... I said she was able to get a judge to force Google to hand over private info from a blogger, and the fact that she is suing the blogger, not the site. But the article does state that the site the blogger posted on was taken down for a while because of litigation. I'm just saying that this could happen to other owners of sites(blogs), where they could be forced to release private info., of members who joined their site, should someone decide to sue one of their members or the owner for defamation of character/slander.
According to the article, the site was taken down, once the litigation started against the blogger. Thanks for the info though. [Edited 8/20/09 11:20am] | |
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