Court Rules in Favor of Anonymous Blogger
The Delaware Supreme Court reversed a lower court opinion requiring an internet service provider to disclose the identity of an anonymous blogger who allegedly made defamatory claims about a public official. You can access the ruling here (pdf). The justices said the Smyrna town councilman Patrick Cahill should have to make a stronger case that he and his wife, Julia, had been defamed before ordering Comcast Cable Communications to disclose the identities of four anonymous posters to a blog site operated by Independent Newspapers Inc., publisher of the Delaware State News. Among other things the bloggers pointed to Cahill’s “obvious mental deterioration,” and made several sexual references about him and his wife, including using the name “Gahill” to suggest that Cahill, who has publicly feuded with Smyrna Mayor Mark Schaeffer, is homosexual. The News Journal of Wilmington, Delaware offers this report. The Associated Press reports that “Court Rules in Favor of Anonymous Blogger.”
