The problem with censorship (or how to do the Komar chill):
Perkins Coie LLP letter dated Jan 9, 2002
”Dear Mr. Widmann:
Thanks for getting back to me regarding Mary Day’s “message board posting removal request,” which was seeking the removal of all Yahoo! message board postings under a lengthy list of aliases. As we discussed, Yahoo! is happy to remove message board posts when requested by the poster, though please understand that Yahoo! takes no position as to whether the requested removal is or is not required by court order.
Please let Ms. Day know that Yahoo! requires verification that she has the aliases in question in order to process her requests. Ordinarily, this verification requires the e-mail address, zip code, date of birth and country provided in the registration process. Verification can be accomplished through an automated online form, located at
Unfortunately, as Ms. Day apparently did not comply with the Yahoo! Terms of Service (See Section 3, requiring accurate information during registration), she is unable to verify any of her aliases. The initial e-mail list of aliases did not differentiate between Ms. Day’s and Mr. Delfino’s aliases, and Mr. Delfino has not indicated whether he is able to verify any aliases.
As we discussed, to the extent that Ms. Day has the passwords to these accounts, she can update her registration information on the My Account page. For security reasons, however, the date of birth may not be updated through the online form. However, Ms. Day can provide this office with other verification information (e.g. her e-mail address, zip code, and country), and we will use that information to verify with the updated information on Ms. Day’s accounts.
Please let me know if there are accounts for which Ms. Day has both lost the passwords and is unable to verify her registration information.
Once we have verification, Yahoo! will then endeavor to remove all posts from each identified account (and all of that account’s aliases). Please note that it is not possible to delete all of your client’s messages only on particular message boards, or limited to only particular aliases in a given account.
I am copying this letter to Mr. Falcon, in case Mr. Delfino faces a similar problem with the verification process for message removal. Please let us know if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Kurt B. Opsahl”
Complain, Complain, Complain
Mary E. Day writes to Perkins Coie LLP letter on Jan 22, 2002
"Dear Mr. Opsahl:
I have just read your 9 Jan 2002 letter on behalf of Yahoo!, Inc. to Mr. Widmann, Esq. Because of my financial predicament, I am responding to you on behalf of Mr. Delfino and myself.
In this letter you requested that you be made aware if there are accounts for which Ms. Day and Dr. Delfino have both lost the passwords and are unable to verify their registration information. This is true for all the aliases listed in the three letters we have sent to Yahoo!. Below, I have reproduced the original letter.
Upon discovering Yahoo! divulged our private information to a third party without prior notification to us, we have never entered accurate private information when signing up for accounts with Yahoo! Additionally, neither Dr. Delfino nor I have kept any records that verify our aliases such as e-mail address, zip code, date of birth or country. Moreover, we have since deleted these accounts and do not have access to the Yahoo! MyAccount page associated with these aliases. Finally, we have no memory of the passwords for the aliases.
And so, we ask again that Yahoo! simply remove all postings that Mr. Delfino and myself may have authored using the list of aliases provided. If we can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact either of us directly instead of our attorneys as we are financially ruined an unable to sustain further legal aid without incurring addiitional significant hardship.
Please, Mr. Opsahl, comply with the Court's wishes and act in haste in censoring the Yahoo! message boards.
Sincerely,
Mary E. Day and Michelangelo Delfino"
Perkins Coie writes Mary E. Day on Jan 25, 2002
"Dear Ms. Day:
This letter is in response to your fax of January 22, 2002, in which you repeated your request for Yahoo! to remove all the messages posted by any of over 130 aliases from Yahoo! Finance message boards.. As we understand it, you are unable to provide information confirming that you are the true account holder of any of these aliases.
As an initial matter, please understand that Yahoo! is not a party to Varian Medical Systems, et al. v. Delfino, et al,, CV 780187, Santa Clara County Superior Court, and therefore has no obligations pursuant to the Court order referenced in you fax. Furthermore, Yahoo! takes no position as to whether or not the Court’s order requires you to request the removal of all messages by the listed aliases.
However, as we discussed with Mr. Widmann, Yahoo! will remove message board posts when requested by the poster, provided that the poster verifies that he or she is the registered user of the accounts in question. As I’m sure you understand, this authentification policy is necessary to prevent people from impersonating another use and removing messages without authorization.
Since, you claim to have forgotten both the account information and the account passwords for each alias, Yahoo! is unable verify that you are the account user and removing messages without authorization.
Should you provide Yahoo! with a Court order finding that you are the account holder of these aliases, Yahoo! will accept this as verification. Likewise, if the Court identifies particular messages as defamatory by board and message number, Yahoo! will remove the identified messages. Otherwise, Yahoo! is unable to process your request at this time.
Sincerely,
Kurt B. Opsahl
cc: Randall Widmann, Esq.
Glynn Falcon, Esq.
Matthew Poppe, Esq."
geocities.com |
