Scoop.it
Council spent £200,000 trying to unmask anonymous blogger
A council has dropped a five-year, £200,000 legal campaign trying to unmask a blogger called Mr Monkey, who made allegations of impropriety against four senior members of the authority. A Freedom of Information request has forced South Tyneside council to admit how much they spent trying (and failing) to discover the identity of Mr Monkey, who made allegations of impropriety against four senior members of the authority. They've dropped the curious case after the Guardian started asking questions
Source: www.theguardian.com
The Council suspected the blog was authored by Ahmed Khan, but Khan has always vehemently denied being Mr Monkey and unsuccessfully filed an ‘anti-SLAPP’ (Strategic Lawsuits against Public Participation) motion in 2011, which would have prevented the council from obtaining more of his details. But this claim was dismissed by a judge as “frivolous”, as the nature of the John Doe suit meant he was never named as a defendant.
There are procedures by which an anonymous blogger can oppose a subpoena that would expose his identity, but you can't simply bring an anti-SLAPP motion claiming you're not the defendants.
Read the rest of this entry »Cooley Law School Loses Defamation Suit Against New York Law Firm
Cooley Law School has lost an appeal in their defamation lawsuit against a law firm that posted criticism of the school's reporting of student debt on a popular law school message board.
The school had filed a $17 million lawsuit against Kurzon Strauss LLC, a New York firm, and two attorneys associated with the firm, Jesse Strauss and David Anziska, accusing them of posting defamatory statements on the popular law school message board "JD Underground". The post said that federal regulators were investigating Cooley Law School over student loan default rates and employment for graduates.
Those statements were later retracted, but the firm then began preparing a proposed class-action lawsuit against the school, at which point Cooley filed its suit against the firm accusing them of defamation, breach of contract and interference with business relations, among other claims.
A trial court granted judgment to Kurzon Strauss before trial, saying that Cooley Law School was a "public figure" and therefore would have to prove that the firm acted with a disregard for the truth, a bar the court said Cooley could not clear
Source: www.mlive.com
When in individual or entity is deemed to be a "limited public figure", the theory is that such a person has greater access to the media, and therefore tell their side of the story. Therefore, when a limited public figure sues for defamation, they have a higher standard of proof to show that defamation. Specifically, they must show the person who allegedly defamed them acted with "actual malice" or "reckless disregard for the truth".
Here, the court concluded that Cooley Law School would not be able to meet that burden.
Go here for more Internet Defamation cases.
Read the rest of this entry »C.A. Says Ex-Employee’s Settlement Demand Was Extortion
