A former shipping company executive, J. Erik Hvide, claimed he
was libelled on message boards hosted by the two companies.
The companies themselves were not sued. The reason is that
earlier court rulings in the US protect ISPs from responsibility
for messages posted on their sites. Instead, Hvide sued anonymous
individuals who claimed Hvide had been guilty of mismanagement and
criminal behaviour.
The lawyer for Hvide said, “the judge had to balance the right
to make anonymous accusations on-line with the right of someone to
face their accuser.”
AOL and Yahoo! were each served with an order demanding the
identities of eight anonymous posters. Dade County Circuit Court
Judge Eleanor Schockett rejected a motion to quash the orders.
If Schockett’s ruling is upheld, it would mean that individuals
posting messages on the internet anonymously could lose their right
to anonymity. Schockett gave the companies 20 days to turn over the
names.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) called Hvide’s lawsuit
frivolous. A spokesman for the ACLU said: “One of the advantages of
the internet is having access to a huge audience. We have to tread
carefully on the internet and ensure it has the breathing room it
needs."
