Internet postings targeted in court

Internet postings targeted in court - baltimoresun.com

A Maryland appeals court will hear arguments today in a case that could help determine whether someone who makes an anonymous — and disparaging — Internet posting in chat rooms or on message boards could be unmasked.

A decision could add to an emerging body of law shaping free-speech boundaries in the Internet age, when people using screen names as aliases regularly gripe online about politicians, employers and investments.

Here is another case that must be watched very closely. It too has the potential to undermine the fabric of the internet. As I read about the companies that are upset about anonymous posters making false statements about their products and impacting the company’s stock prices I had to think back to Enron and other companies where the actual officers make false statements. The only difference is corporations have money to spend on minimizing negative opinion, and you know they will if they win this lawsuit, while individual investors have to wait until the lies of management are revealed, if ever. This indeed is a tough one.

3 November, 2005 |

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