Lawsuit targets anonymous online comments

Mods, not sure where to post this so I put it here.

Hundreds of people who posted their opinions of a sexual assault trial in an online forum are now the targets of a lawsuit.

The authors of those comments on the Topix.com Web site thought they were anonymous, but this week, a judge ruled their names should be revealed.

Mark and Rhonda Lesher lived quietly in Northeast Texas; Mark practiced law, Rhonda ran a beauty salon.

Then, last year, a woman accused the couple — along with another man — of sexually assaulting her. That's when the anonymous comments started appearing on Topix.com.

An estimated 1,700 statements were too graphic to be included in this story, going far beyond the criminal charges.

"They were perverted, sick, vile, inhumane accusations," said Mark Lesher in a telephone interview from Clarksville, Texas.

The Leshers' attorney, William Pieratt Demond, labeled the comments "a form of persecution."

Last month, the couple got their day in court. A jury found the Leshers, along with their alleged accomplice, not guilty. But in the online Topix forum, it seemed, the trial had no end.

"It just ... basically made us both feel like common criminals," Lesher said. "It's like someone had basically raped us of our reputation and our standing in the community over and over and over again."

And so this month, the Leshers sued 178 anonymous posters on Topix.com. A Tarrant County judge ordered Topix to turn over potentially identifying information about the users listed in the lawsuit.. Topix has until March 6 to comply with the ruling.

"We do not just give up people's privacy," said Topix CEO Chris Tolles. "We're very, very careful about that."

But Tolles said the Topix discussions are not necessarily a license to run people through the mud. "If there is a line that's been crossed from a libel standpoint — and it seems reasonable — we do, in fact, cooperate with the courts."

This lawsuit was brought in Tarrant County because it appears at least one anonymous poster lives here.

Internet libel suits have had success in the past. A few years ago a North Dakota professor was awarded $3 million over claims a student Web site defamed him.

http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/latestnews/stories/wfaa090206_wz_topix.282b808c.html


I thought this was very interesting. I have seen some pretty horrid comments on websites. Thank goodness this one is moderated so well!

Yes and anonymous is not soooooooooooo anonymous !

So someone just started accusing this couple of sexually assaulting them ? out of nowhere ?

Just another reason to thank God for Websleuths and the standards that are set in place for all posters.
:woohoo:

This is very interesting.

If any of you have ever been to topix you know there is zero moderation. It is so out of control and obscene that I do not understand why people bother to go there.

Thank you for your kind words about the moderating. We do are best. It can be a difficult line to tow between freedom of speech and letting people post whatever they want.

That's why we make it really clear on our TOS that the poster is 100% responsible for all of their posts.

Tricia said:

This is very interesting.

If any of you have ever been to topix you know there is zero moderation. It is so out of control and obscene that I do not understand why people bother to go there.

Thank you for your kind words about the moderating. We do are best. It can be a difficult line to tow between freedom of speech and letting people post whatever they want.

That's why we make it really clear on our TOS that the poster is 100% responsible for all of their posts.

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I too appreciate the moderating in this forum, as well as the TOS and recognition that each individual poster is responsible for their own posts and opinions.

Russell

mydailyopinions said:

Just another reason to thank God for Websleuths and the standards that are set in place for all posters.
:woohoo:

Click to expand...

Thank God for that!!!

As an after thought, I wonder if any of the anonymous individuals being sued were intentionally provoked by other anonymous posters, essentially setting them up for the law suit? This could be a very interesting case, at least from a legal/free speech perspective. Are all posters going to be identified? Seems that the context of the questionable posts would become very relevant, opening up the entire rationale for each post to be considered, not only what was poster actually said but what the poster meant. If it proceeds to trail, I think it will be one big mess ... essentially a win-win type case for the attorneys and media.

Just my thoughts and opinions,
Russell

Could be, but the control of that situation is 100% in the court of the "provokee". If you tend to loose your temper easily in ANY situation, not just on line, your life will be a difficult one and you will have to live with the consequences.

Speak in haste, repent at leisure.

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Regarding provokers (those provoking) and provokes (those provoked), having worked with many criminals, psychopaths and otherwise, I learned over the time of my own circumstance, that the more sophisticated and manipulative of them, street-wise or academic or corporate or governmental, turned provocations into an art form – both eliciting provocations and delivering them. In any case, I would find a jury trial on this matter most interesting, exploitive, and destructive of free speech.

Opinions only,
Russell

I wonder what the story was in this case, what happened. There was a trial, so there must have been some sort of evidence to even charge the people in the first place.

http://www.rrpolitics.org/#Current Editorial

Here's more info from Red River County

I can only hope this gets thrown out of court:

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/020809dnmetlawsuit.2bd48105.html

There is already a thread about this

JaneInOz said:

There is already a thread about this

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thanks, Jane! I thought this was a new story since it was in Dallas Morning News online today. (neighboring county.)
:slap: to me.

Ill try and find it - i know I commented in there about anon not being so anon !! lol

mydailyopinions said:

Just another reason to thank God for Websleuths and the standards that are set in place for all posters.
:woohoo:

Click to expand...

That is so right!

:innocent:..............I do try to behave, of course!

Texana said:

I can only hope this gets thrown out of court:

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/020809dnmetlawsuit.2bd48105.html

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If the case is not thrown out, what will happen if the information is made public? This is scary.

Wow, this is interesting. I would think the owners/admin of Topix would be held responsible for this for providing the platform and unmoderated arena allowing this to happen.

Hail to WS TO's!!!:clap:

Here is the petition for the Lesher-Omega pdf (the internet libel/defamation lawsuit)

http://www.connordemond.com/LESHER-OMEGA_PETITION.pdf


ETA: The comments are listed in the suit, they are beyond description.

hmmm not sure this is a good thing at all. there is such thing as freedom of speech and we've seen the worst out there, including denying the holocaust, etc. If certain things become one way, then it should become that way for almost everything. There isn't a happy medium with freedom of speech.

I don't always agree with how censored I feel at WS at times but I do my very best to respect the TOS and what Tricia has layed out for us all. It's not my board so not my rules. Should this happen, then how far reaching does it become? Does then Tricia become a lawsuit target because she hosted a vast board like WS? She shouldn't be responsible one bit, nope!

I think a good example of of a website that has been sued over and over and the owner has always successfully won is the ripoffreport.com site. There are a few things about that site that are fantastic and many things that are not. You can put anything about anyone on there, they NEVER remove a report and there's nothing you can do about it.

So someone can trash your name, especially your business on there and there truly is zero you can do about it. Is that right, no way. Should they be shut down? I don't think so. It's done a great job exposing so many scammers out there, business people that are not people you should ever do business with, etc. I've gone to that site more than once to look up companies and I decide for myself based on the reports whether what the customer is saying is viable and true or not.

Hope this made sense...

WS is one of the few boards I feel comfortable posting at, due to the moderation. (and I am so thankful they put up with my bossy tirades LoL). Overall I think it will be hard to take anonymous postings and seek court action thanks to lines of jurisdiction... that is, unless it is like the Myspace court case where over and over the woman posed as a boy online to chastise and mentally screw with the young girl that committed suicide. Now that aspect is pure malicious meanness that was not a simple anonymous posting, but constant online bullying through faux "anonymous" postings.

Overall, this should be a reality check to people: you may think that your words are anonymous when online, but in reality, every click and move you make leaves an electronic trail. So when posting, chose your words and surfing carefully.