Judge Sides With Anonymous Chat Room Posters
Friday, December 01, 2000 07:47 PM EST
MORRISTOWN, N.J., Dec. 1 (UPI) -- A New Jersey court ruling protecting the
anonymity of Web users who post unflattering comments about corporations may set
a precedent say privacy advocates. New Jersey Superior Court Judge Kenneth
MacKenzie refused this week to order Yahoo to divulge the identities of two chat
room participants.
Morristown, N.J.-based software maker Dendrite International filed suit to learn
the identities of four chat room writers who had posted disparaging remarks
about the company, including the charge that it was engaging in illegal
activities. But the judge denied the request for a subpoena, saying Dendrite had
not demonstrated that it had been harmed.
Privacy advocates who follow the issue said it might be the first time a court
has sided with anonymous posters.
"Great decision," said Paul Levy, an attorney for Public Citizen, a
Washington-based consumer group that filed a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf
of the anonymous posters. "It seems to me to be a significant development when
people can or cannot use the judicial system to identify an anonymous poster on
the Internet. There have been a number of decisions that have said you have to
meet a certain test to achieve that aim, but this is the first time a court has
said the request doesn't meet the test."
Judge MacKenzie cited a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that set a First Amendment
basis for anonymous speech. The judge wrote that the right to speak anonymously
"in diverse contexts" is inherent in the Constitution's First Amendment
protections and that the company had failed to adequately show that its damage
warranted revoking the posters' First Amendment right to remain unknown.
Levy said many people view anonymous speech as less credible, raising the bar
for companies who try to use the courts to unmask their critics.
"When you read something in a chat room, you don't know whether the information
is reliable. The courts have to make sure companies have suffered real damage
and aren't just trying to identify disgruntled employees so they can fire them,"
Levy said.
Levy suggested the ruling would be cited as a precedent in similar cases
nationwide, even though Judge MacKenzie's ruling is not binding beyond New
Jersey's borders. Corporations have filed dozens of similar lawsuits against
anonymous online critics, but so far, none have gone to trial. Levy said
companies would likely think twice now before filing legal action.
For its part, Dendrite is celebrating a partial victory. While Judge MacKenzie
ruled in favor of the two anonymous defendants who fought the subpoena in court,
he ruled that legal efforts against two other anonymous posters who did not
challenge the subpoena request could proceed.
An attorney for Dendrite said the company is pleased with that part of the
ruling and will "vigorously pursue" the case against the remaining defendants.
(reported by J. MARK HUFFMAN in Washington, D.C.)
(c) 2000 UPI All rights reserved.
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Copyright 2000 by United Press International.
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