Judge Orders Unmasking Of Wikipedia Users; Fails To Follow Standard Anonymity Protections
from the dendrite-me dept
Over the years, we've covered tons of lawsuits about attempts by people to uncover the identity of anonymous critics. Frequently, the aggrieved parties figure out some way to file a defamation lawsuit and use that to uncover the name of the person in question, without much interest in actually going through the rest of the legal proceedings. Judges tend to be a mixed bag on this issue, with many judges recognizing a strong First Amendment free speech value in allowing anonymous speech. In fact, many are (finally) coalescing around the "Dendrite" rules, which outline the conditions under which anonymous online users can or should be identified. The Dendrite hurdle is pretty high, and for a good reason: because anonymity is important.However, it appears that a magistrate judge in Colorado who admitted he was unaware of the Dendrite case or the associated "rule," decided to just ignore it once being informed of it, and went forward with an order to unmask some anonymous Wikipedia users who the company Faconnable claimed defamed Faconnable. This is worrisome, and thankfully, Public Citizen is pushing back on this, highlighting the importance of protecting anonymity online. Thankfully, another court has put a stay on identifying the guy in question while this issue is hashed out, but it's still unfortunate how many judges are uninformed on issues they're ruling about.
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Filed Under: anonymity, defamation, dendrite, wikipedia
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The real shame here
I don't hold it against a judge for not knowing this. I do hold it against him for not researching and finding precedents and even worse, ignoring it once he is informed of it. There is little that can be done to judges and they know it.
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Re: The real shame here
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If I go to court and say "Geez, I'm sorry. I didn't know about that law/rule", I still get nailed in the head with that rule anyway. But I guess judges are special, huh?
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Even if ignorant of some precedent, once it is brought to their attention, they should have a responsibility to research it and abide by it unless there is an extraordinary reason to create new precedent.
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Grammar Nazi Alert
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Re: Grammar Nazi Alert
Admit it, you're Façonnabley late
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Re: Grammar Nazi Alert
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(...and yes, I cringed typing that, regardless of the intended humor)
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Re: Re: Grammar Nazi Alert
And here we have our first grammar lesson of the week. But, stay tuned, there may be more.
(I had trouble paying attention in school too) :p
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Unless of course it is false, but they will have to prove this is not the case, perhaps?
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Unless of course it is false, but they will have to prove this is not the case, perhaps?
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Proxy Time?
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dendrite_International,_Inc._v._Doe_No._3
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Buying from companies that support terrorist...
Homeland Security.
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http://crm.cegedim.com/about-us/privacy-policy/safe-harbor/Pages/default.aspx
Gu ess they have a different definition of "respect."
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Now, let's be clear here. I'm not on an Anti-TechDirt rant here. This is a rant against everyone who thinks the law should bend to whatever morality they believe in.
Do you want the law to make decisions based on the beliefs of the enforcers? If so, this is what you get - some judges and other law enforcement officials feeling that anonymity should not (and cannot) be hidden behind.
Do you want the law to follow the process, and be blind justice? Then yes, you have to deal with people being arrested for bad laws - and hopefully getting those laws overturned through due process.
What I can't stand, however, is people who want whatever suits their own beliefs best. The legal system is not tailored to appease individuals, nor should it ever.
(Just to be clear, I'm the green AC that posted a lot on that article, and yes, I'm on a tilt)
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Trademark violation too
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So, let me get this straight
Talk about abuse of Section 230.
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Re: So, let me get this straight
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Re: So, let me get this straight
You've got to admit he puts a fair amount of effort into packing in the keywords, though.
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Re: So, let me get this straight
No. Once again, you have it wrong.
The complaint is in the lack of due process to protect the anonymity of the person. There is a good process for identifying anonymous posters that involves alerting them, and allowing them to respond and meeting certain useful hurdles. This judge did not do that.
Talk about abuse of Section 230.
This has absolutely nothing to do with Section 230. Why even bring that up?
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For once I agree with FB! :)
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I was just reading your piece on Forever21 and thinking the same thing. Must be opposites day.
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You may consider that, but you will quickly find that no court in the land agrees with you.
I'm surprised you'd think that this has "absolutely nothing" to do with Section 230, when (for the Wikimedia Foundation's viability as an ongoing defamation platform provider) it has *everything* to do with Section 230.
The lawsuit wasn't filed against Wikimedia. No Section 230 response was made. It's totally irrelevant. You're bringing up issues that have nothing to do with anything.
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Sickening to you. Reasonable protections for privacy and anonymity to the rest of us.
The pendulum is finally swinging back to at least a mote of accountability for one's outlandish claims in speech, and all I hear is "free culture" whiners, most of whom are too ashamed of their own outlandish views to stand behind them with a real name. I give you credit, at least, for putting your signature to your disagreeable views
My views are not "disagreeable." People have always been accountable for outlandish claims, contrary to your assertion.
And, where do you get the idea that those who support free speech all have "outlandish views." Pretty hilarious for someone who claims to hate defamation to paint a large group of people with such a broad brush.
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http://jolt.richmond.edu/v6i5/article4.txt
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abs tract_id=1352442
http://blog.ericgoldman.org/archives/2008/04/roommatescom_de_1.htm
http://ars technica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/03/a-friendly-exchange-about-the-future-of-online-liability.ars/
http://scholar.valpo.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1122&context=vulr
Maybe you'll find some material in those papers that will round out your views about Section 230, responsibility, and defamation. Or, maybe you'll just toss them aside and go with your standard view, because that's easier.
If I may apply an analogy, you sound like an anti-abortion advocate, circa 1965, saying that "right to privacy has nothing to do with abortion", unaware that in just a few more years, not only would it have to do with abortion, it would have *everything* to do with abortion. I realize that CURRENTLY, the law states that my view is an outside view, but I (and others) are convinced it will not always be this way. Free culture excesses will see to that. I'm not unreasonable. Clearly, the open discourse of human beings on websites that do not themselves contribute to the discourse is a valuable and precious resource. However, I believe there is also room to adjust the culture in a way that respects the dignity and rights of REAL people at least marginally more than those of PSEUDONYMOUS people. You may disagree with that, but if you were to poll 100 human beings at random (I don't care if they're American, or Dutch, or Korean, or Ethiopian), I contend that if they are intelligent enough to understand the question, at least 90 of them would more agree with me than with you. That's why I describe your views as "disagreeable". I contend that your views run counter to the vast majority of regular people's opinions. Your views are right at home on Techdirt, but that is not reflective of humanity, I hope you know.
One last example... there's a website out there that pokes fun at me. I can manage the parody just fine, but I'd rather not point here to it with a link. However, in that site's text, it claims that my little 7-year-old daughter is "not of my seed" (or something like that). That was initially written three years ago, when my kid was 4 years old. The page was initially on a U.S.-based site which has shut down, it seems, but within days a free culture proponent, Sven Slootweg, was hosting a copy of the page in Europe, because he feels that "information wants to be free", I suppose. I asked if he would kindly take down the page, or at least withdraw the part that would be so offensive to a little girl. Guess what? He refused. That wouldn't be fair to the original author's right to free speech, he informed me. Could you describe for me, what is my course of action to find out who wrote this hateful comment about my relationship with my daughter? Or, should I just let it go (as I have), because the precious right of anonymous harassment should never be modified?
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