COURT RULES IDENTITY OF ANONYMOUS BLOGGER PROTECTED

Most of you are aware that Minnesota Democrats Exposed is published anonymously and I am thrilled with yesterday's ruling by the Delaware Supreme Court.

Please click here for the complete ruling from the Delaware Supreme Court.

##

"The Delaware Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that if an elected official claims he has been defamed by an anonymous blogger, he cannot use a lawsuit to unmask the writer unless he has substantial evidence to prove his claim.

That standard, the court said, 'will more appropriately protect against the chilling effect on anonymous First Amendment Internet speech that can arise when plaintiffs bring trivial defamation lawsuits primarily to harass or unmask their critics.'" Source for complete article: New York Times, Octover 7, 2005

##

"The Delaware Supreme Court has protected the identity of a blogger in the case of Doe v. Cahill, finding that the plaintiffs failed to meet the strict standards required by the First Amendment to unmask an anonymous critic. It dismissed the case Wednesday.

This is the first state supreme court to rule on a "John Doe" subpoena or to address bloggers' rights." Source for complete article: Linux Electrons, October 7, 2005

##

"In a ruling that could help set national legal standards for free speech on the Internet, the Delaware Supreme Court sided with free-speech advocates Wednesday and rejected a Smyrna Town councilman's quest to unmask an anonymous Internet critic.

The state's high court reversed a Superior Court order requiring Internet service provider Comcast Cable Communications to release the identity of "John Doe No. 1" to Councilman Patrick Cahill so Cahill could pursue a libel suit for allegedly defamatory comments Doe posted on a weblog, or "blog."

And the justices set a high standard for future cases, making it difficult for people like Cahill to force disclosure of an anonymous poster's identity simply by filing lawsuits that have little chance of success.

"We are concerned that setting the standard too low will chill potential posters from exercising their First Amendment right to speak anonymously," Chief Justice Myron T. Steele wrote in a 33-page opinion." Source for complete article: delawareonline, October 7, 2005