New Jersey Judge Rules In Favor Of Anonymous Web Posters
11/29/0 14:45 (New York)
By Phyllis Plitch
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--In what is being hailed as a significant victory for
Internet free speech rights, a New Jersey judge has rejected Dendrite
International Inc.'s (DRTE) attempt to unmask anonymous message board posters
who fought their identification.
The decision, handed down Tuesday by a Morris County superior court judge, is
believed to be one of the first in a so-called cybersmear case to yield a
clear-cut win for "John Does" fighting to keep their true identities under
wraps.
"By setting forth strict evidentiary standards for compelled identification,
and then showing that these standards can produce real protection for
anonymity, this decision is a tremendous victory for free speech," said Paul
Levy, an attorney with Public Citizen, an online privacy and free speech
advocacy organization, which submitted a friend-of-the-court brief in the case.
Dendrite had tried to learn the identifies of four "John Does" who peppered
Yahoo Inc.! (YHOO) message boards using aliases, in connection with a lawsuit
the company filed claiming defamation, misappropriation of trade secrets and
several other alleged state law infractions.
Two of the John Does, who had identified themselves as Dendrite employees,
weren't afforded protection from discovery because they never responded to the
lawsuit, Kenneth C. MacKenzie ruled in his 22-page decision, while indicating
the door is still open to a possible challenge.
As for the other two defendants, called John Does 3 and 4 in the opinion,
MacKenzie found that Dendrite failed to provide "ample proof" that they "used
their constitutional protections in order to conduct themselves in a manner
which is unlawful or that would warrant this court to revoke their
constitutional protections."
A spokesman for the Morristown, N.J., software provider wasn't immediately
available for comment. |
