According to an article from Canada’s The Globe and Mail news magazine, Madam Justice Joan Madden, the New York State Supreme Court jurist charged with handling the case, determined that established law did not distinguish between the online and offline worlds for judging defamation and free speech. A quote:
Her (Cohen’s) lawyer argued that she could not bring a defamation suit against the blogger unless the search-engine giant released the person’s identity.
The case spotlights a new area of law where legal standards are still being worked out, said Steven Wagner, the New York-based lawyer who represented Ms. Cohen.
“People who behave poorly and defame people on the Internet will face possible repercussions,” he said in a phone interview. “This is one of a series of cases that is establishing a standard. The standard is not set yet.”
Many previous attempts to force disclosure of blogger IDs in non-criminal cases have failed. If this case becomes a precedent, then the use of the Web as an anonymous bully pulpit is going to change radically.
JB
Jonathan Bernstein
https://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com/