Now this case is not about someone being called a skank, but rather making untruthful comments that harm one's reputation. I have a category called "useful idiots" where I call the following people, to name a few, idiots: Harvard Prof Henry Louis Gates Jr, Senator Barbara Boxer, and ex-President Jimmy "the moron" Carter. I have no worries about being hauled into court because I have truth as a defense; these people are indeed idiots.

I applauded Google for not turning records over when the Feds were seeking records in a pornography probe. There, I believed the government had no right to information where no criminal activity was involved.

Newspapers or other broadcast media do not have a cloak to cover identity where libel is concerned, neither should the Internet; if it did, then owners of the major media could merely publish libelous comments anonymously online instead of printing them.

This is not a case for bloggers to worry about. It's not about free speech, it's not about the Feds trying to find out who is saying bad things about government programs or Congressman. If it was, I doubt the Judge would have ruled as she did. Readers of my blog know that I allow anonymous comments to my articles and I certainly would defend the right of anyone to post articles or comments anonymously on the Internet, but my defense stops when opinion turns to defamation.

Google tried to reassure users that they "will only provide information about a user in response to a subpoena or other court order" ². So unless an offended party can convince a judge that the written matter is libelous, I doubt we will see a flood of lawsuits.

Notes

(1):

NY Post, MODEL FORGIVES BLOGGER WHO CALLED HER A 'SKANK'

After receiving the e-mail address of the person behind the now-shuttered "Skanks in NYC" website, the former Vogue covergirl did some detective work and found out the nasty blogger was a female acquaintance.

Cohen told Good Morning America that she "jumped for joy and laughed" when she found out who the person was on Tuesday night.

"[I] called everybody and my mother and said 'Thank God it's her,'" Cohen said. While hesitant to identify the person publicly by name, Cohen described the woman as "an irrelevant person in my life - just somebody whenever I'd go out to a restaurant or a party in New York City, she was just always that girl who was always there."

(2):

SMH au, Model forces Google to reveal 'skank' blogger's identity

Cohen's lawyer, Steven Wagner, told reporters that he hoped the decision would send a message that the internet was "not a free-for-all".

Anne Salisbury, the lawyer for the blogger, warned that the ruling would open the "floodgates" for anyone who has been the subject of a nasty comment online to take legal action.

A Google spokeswoman said: "We sympathise with anyone who may be the victim of cyber bullying. We also take great care to respect privacy concerns and will only provide information about a user in response to a subpoena or other court order."