The beginning of the end of online anonymity?

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — A Philadelphia judge has ordered philly.com to reveal the name of an anonymous commenter, in a defamation suit brought by electricians’ union leader John Dougherty. An attorney in the case says it could have a broad impact on incendiary online comments and those users, sometimes called “trolls,” who post them anonymously. The anonymous defendant in the suit, disguised by the nonsense name “fbpdplt,” called Dougherty a name in the comments section of an article on the website, one of the properties in the media group that also owns the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News. The website is not a party to the suit but it received a subpoena, more than a year ago, for information on the commenter. Its attorney, Eli Segal, says, “the company went to Court to make sure that the defendant received notice and an opportunity to be heard.” The commenter remained anonymous but was represented in court by Phil Blackman, who argued that identifying his client would violate his, or her, First Ammendment right to speak anonymously. Dougherty’s attorney, Joe Podraza, argued the comment was defamation, not protected by either the federal or state constitution. Common Please Judge Jacqueline Allen ruled in Dougherty’s favor, in a decision that Podraza says “has been a long time coming.” “I think the court is sending a strong message to those who abuse the internet by defaming others and think they can get away with it by acting anonymously,” he told KYWnewsradio. “The court is strongly saying that anonymity does not mean immunity under defamation law.” Podraza says the ruling should provide protection from defamation for all citizens. “Hopefully, it will send a strong message to people to be more responsible when they’re posting comments, particularly when they’re attempting to do so in an anonymous capacity.”

[url=http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2014/03/05/philadelphia-judge-issues-ruling-that-could-give-anonymous-online-commenters-second-thoughts/]source[ /url]


Wow so apparently society is too sensitive to ignore trolls now. Apparently if someone is offended by something we all have to pay so they can remain emotionally unscarred. Poor guy got called a name online and just couldn't live with the fact that there are immature people getting away with saying whatever they want.

welcome to the beginning of the end of online anonymity (in the face of the public that is)

Sorry friend, there's been no such thing as "online anonymity" for quite some time now.

On the one hand, I agree that some folks are too sensitive when it comes to "trolls." But on the other, some of those trolls are just so damned obnoxious. Either way, people just need to grow the hell up.

I don't see that going against 0.01% of online trolls with sanctions will end this so called online anonymity you claim to still have.

It's not that I don't agree with your opinion that people should get over it but I think something should be done against extremists, some people too easily forget that people online are real human beings.

That's why I stated "In the face of the public". It wont be long before anything said will offended someone out there and be a criminal act.

I see it as a way to open the door to charging us with a crime for talking about what our "elected leaders" are up to.

get ready to start seeing websites like this one torn down for "enabling defamation".

I think the separation from the online avatar to the real life personally is what causes a lot of mental confusion anyway.
In my online experience I have become aware of people with multiple avatars to manufacture certain types of emotional experiences. It is pretty funny to me actually watching people bounce people around
Not that I think it is acceptable or anything, but never the less still funny to me.

theMediator
I don't see that going against 0.01% of online trolls with sanctions will end this so called online anonymity you claim to still have.

It's not that I don't agree with your opinion that people should get over it but I think something should be done against extremists, some people too easily forget that people online are real human beings.

People should be allowed to say whatever they want. Harassment and online bullying are one thing, but can you imagine what it will be like if they can charge you for a single comment? We will all soon be seeing some defamation charges for our "theories"

got something to say about the illegal activities our politicians are committing? Bam! charges... Sorry but your evidence wasn't on msn so therefore defamation.

Figured this for a long time anyway, since it's mostly there. Attacks from trolls to controlling the said bullying will bring an end to anonymous posting whether it be from private sites or mainstream ones or from an internet bill that requires names, pictures, etc., attached to your internet account. Headlining itself as harassment protection, it will be favored. Private sites already do this for the most part. Many sites with message boards I have went to over the years now allow only comments from Facebook(and they prefer you use "your real account"). Besides the fact that there's barely any anonymity anyway if it comes to NSA, etc.,- they know but the next commenter might not know who you are. Keep up the trolling for those who enjoy it, in the end you lose just like the rest of us, have fun doing it with your own name and pictures.

reply to post by theyknowwhoyouare


Thats why they make proxy servers thats how the Chinese avoid government censors for example. If you want to hide your identity its easy every browser allows you to set up proxy servers if your really paranoid chain together a couple in different countries.

reply to post by theyknowwhoyouare

called Dougherty a name in the comments section

Trolling is annoying, but it's not a crime. Being sued for a stupid online comment that someone got butthurt over? Really, it doesn't surprise me.

If I were fbpdplt and ended up having to pay the plaintiff, I think it would be fitting to do it in the most trollish way: all of it in pennies.

If this is the route we are going we are gonna need more courts.....I dont go a day online without encountering a troll of some sort...

I have used computers for 30+ years, and been online (internet) since the early 90's. I have never assumed anything I did online to be anonymous. What you do or say can be tracked.

Fortunately for me I am bulletproof when it comes to lawsuits.

I stay broke and don't have anything someone would want.

Metallicus
Fortunately for me I am bulletproof when it comes to lawsuits.

I stay broke and don't have anything someone would want.

Hate to post something so short, but I am there with ya.

kx12x
reply to post by theyknowwhoyouare

 

called Dougherty a name in the comments section

Trolling is annoying, but it's not a crime. Being sued for a stupid online comment that someone got butthurt over? Really, it doesn't surprise me.

If I were fbpdplt and ended up having to pay the plaintiff, I think it would be fitting to do it in the most trollish way: all of it in pennies.

lol that would be hilarious.

LAT- live action trolling

It's been going on in the USA since 2009 I believe (anyone remember the Liskula Cohen case?)

reply to post by theyknowwhoyouare


When Internet started up i regarded it as the best thing that ever happened to the contribution to those who wanted to practice free speech and freedom, some decades later when the politicians eventually found ways to control it, it’s now in the process of becoming our worst enemy.

The global leftwing political establishment has for some while now ran campaigns to minimize the possibility to write anonymously on the internet. In my country (for instance) they forced all forums to get rid of anonymously by changing the laws. By doing this they made the forum owners responsible for everything that got written on their forums. Thus the forum owners themselves risked getting arrested and prosecuted for something other users on their forum wrote. As a result, a majority of the forums just closed down, while others forces the users to continue if they wrote under their full names. As a consequence, few people did, and free speech on the internet is now probably gone forever.

Take for instance this case. It’s a minor harmless case that never should have reached the courts in the first place. The reason it did is because the establishment encourage people and whistleblowers to put such cases forward. That’s also why the mainstream media blows it up. They all want to send a message to people like us to warn us that if we violate the political correct code or step somebody (important enough) people on their tows, we will be hunted down even if we write anonymously .

What worries me the most are not the few that writes bad stuff on the internet , or the few that possibly steps somebody (important enough) people on their tows or the few that violates the political correct codes, but rather the thousands of people that now are monitoring such possible violations. In a decade or so these thousands of people will eventually become millions of people, and in the end people would only risk writing about weather and sports on the internet.

Please, don’t let the mainstream media brainwash you into believing that the internet needs to be 100% controlled by governmental organizations to get rid of the few bad people out there. This is only an excuse to get control over the millions of normal users out there who behave good. The whole thing reminds me of the many various spying organizations around the world who claims they have to monitor and analyze every electronic trace ordinary people leaves behind in order to get some possible terrorists.

Everything that eventually turns out to be really bad for the common people always starts out easy and advances step by step until the screws are fully tightened. Meanwhile, they always claims that it is because of the better good. Well it isn't. We are brainwashed into believing that we live in democracies in the west. That is imv. not the case anymore. We are about to loose the rights to free speech.

Here is an odd question maybe someone could answer for me,
in the real world what happens to you if you walk up to someone
and call them an A hole? Is that a lawsuit worthy
thing now days? I must have missed that because if that is the case i
have a pretty good suit against this guy on the highway the
other day......

I mean really, going to court over being called a name is
the epitome of whats wrong with this country.... The government
is not our mother or shouldn't be anyway.... ugh.

We really have become a society that sues over every single thing that happens anymore. It's just absurd....

The idea of online anonymity is totally false though, unless you're putting deliberate and serious effort into it on a regular basis. It takes effort for it to be real and effective and it has to be maintained, perfectly, 100% of the time. Wired Magazine had a contest a few years ago where one of their editors tried to go 'off the grid' and anonymously. It lasted a short time before readers located him. I believe it proved it possible and I have no doubt it's done perfectly by protesters and activists whose freedom or more depends on it.

For the average person tho? meh.... Anonymity is a laugh and ends at your ISP. If they won't give up your name by request, you're about that anonymous. If they will send your ID to a legal request....well, you're not that anonymous. Pretty simple, I'd say.

reply to post by theyknowwhoyouare


It's more like the beginning of the end of sensible thinking and maturity. Docherty should have been saved from his own self-importance by a Judge or friends telling him to go man-up and get over it. It's like a kid going home from school and bitching to mom that a kid called him a name

He's a politician! Anonymity or not, it won't stop him from being prideful and self-regarding. It won't stop most adults thinking that politicians are liars and, in his case, we'll always know that he can't sleep at night if a stranger said something bad about him. lol

theyknowwhoyouare

Wow so apparently society is too sensitive to ignore trolls now.

Oh, this has been the case for a very long time. Back when it was mostly newsgroups, the web was kind of the wild west in terms of saying whatever you felt like saying. People had thicker skin and they either stood up for themselves until they got bored with it or just used their filter.

Online forums were the first hint I saw that it was only a matter of time. Most of them had moderators (Actually I think some newsgroups were moderated but many weren't). But when I saw how touchy many of the mods on forums were and how strict the rules quickly got (and how biased and unfair many of them were) I knew things had taken a big step in the wrong direction.

I can remember a time when the consensus seemed to be that punishing trolls was not as important as preserving (at least in spirit) online freedom. Disturbingly, I have seen that change drastically. There were always trolls online and some of them were always crazy but now we have people online who never gave a damn about anonymity (at least to a certain extent) and freedom. All they care about is their silly Facebook page and getting even with anyone who offends them.

But of course what they don't know (or just aren't smart enough to realize) is that in this glorious future they want where you can't offend anyone, they will inevitably run afoul of the rules themselves. No one is perfect enough to be completely polite at all times. Up until now, the penalties for losing your cool online have been relatively minor. At worst, you'd get banned from a forum or maybe even lose your internet account. Almost everyone has probably been banned somewhere or something at least once. People apparently haven't considered the fact that if these kinds of people get their way, things could get really ugly in the future.

Apparently if someone is offended by something we all have to pay so they can remain emotionally unscarred. Poor guy got called a name online and just couldn't live with the fact that there are immature people getting away with saying whatever they want.

Well if nothing else ruins the internet, this will. Gee. I don't know. Who could possibly have anything to gain from people being afraid to speak their mind online?

Well, I've been a hermit for years. I have epilepsy and can't drive. I have little else but the internet. But if they're going to start this nonsense, I guess I'll finally just cancel the damn thing and just watch TV and read.