On Friday, the Court of Appeals of Maryland quashed a subpoena seeking the identity of five anonymous commenters and provided guidance to lower courts regarding what showing an aggrieved plaintiff must make before a court will order a website operator to reveal the identity of an anonymous commenter. In Independent Newspapers, Inc. v. Brodie, the Maryland high court concluded that
a test requiring notice and opportunity to be heard, coupled with a showing of a prima facie case and the application of a balancing test -- such as the standard set forth in Dendrite, 775 A.2d at 760-61 -- most appropriately balances a speaker's consitutional right to anonymous Internet speech with a plaintiff's right to seek judicial redress from defamatory remarks.
Ind. Newspapers, Inc. v. Brodie, No. 63, slip op. at 41 (Md. Feb. 27, 2009) (citing Dendrite International v. Doe, 775 A.2d 756 (N.J. App. Div. 2001)). For factual background, see our database entry, Brodie v. Independent Newspapers, Inc. (Subpoena), and Wendy Davis's article on the case.
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DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
Check this out Chief See. Maybe now the City will save a daily reem of paper. The Chief makes copies of every post about the fire department and believes he will find out who post comments. Nothing better to do I guess. After all. Gordy is running the fire department and you have nothing to do but read Joe's site.
ReplyDeleteGreat decision. Our town would also save a lot of $$ and paper too if some in its administration weren't so busy keeping tabs on the town blog. We have "a government by and for some town employees" here in Ridgely and Toblog has been responsible for exposing all kinds of foolishness which is leading to our town's bankruptcy.
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