[Johnny_Prime]

An Ontario Superior Court judge has ordered a pair of website owners to turn over identifying information about eight people being accused of defamation after posting anonymous comments.

"In my view, the defendants are under an obligation to disclose all documents in their power and control," Justice Stanley Kershman said in a ruling delivered Monday to defendants Connie Wilkins-Fournier and Mark Fournier of Kingston, Ont., who run the website Free Dominion.

Kershman also ordered the couple to pay $5,000 in costs to the plaintiff in the case, Ottawa human rights lawyer Richard Warman, described by Kershman as an "anti-hate speech advocate."

Warman had requested, for use in a court action, access to documents that would assist in identifying the anonymous posters and their locations, such as:

• Email addresses and all personal information.
• The IP addresses of their computers.
• Documents concerning the establishment and operation of the website, such as hosting agreements, billing information, and website registrant names.

The Fourniers had argued that people using the message boards do so with the expectation of anonymity and may make statements or provide information that they wouldn't normally with family, friends or co-workers.
However, Kershman cited a 2004 case that said privacy cannot be used to protect a person from the application of civil or criminal liability, and that privacy rights must be balanced against the rights of other interests and the public interest.

He also cited a 2008 child pornography case, in which a judge ruled that a person's name, address and the name of their spouse are not information that one would expect to keep private from the state under such circumstances.

Fournier, posting on the Free Dominion website late Monday, said the ruling has a number of implications.

"Most importantly it means that anyone can gain access to a Canadian forum owner's confidential records on its members simply by filing a lawsuit (that could later be dropped) against the forum operator."

However, he said the couple did not have the funds to appeal and will likely have to comply with the ruling.

University of Ottawa law professor Michael Geist, posting on his blog Tuesday, expressed concern that the decision "feels like a judge anxious to order disclosure, despite the weight of authority that provides some measure of privacy protection for anonymous posters."

Geist said the court must ensure that a proper balance is struck between the rights of a plaintiff and the privacy and free speech rights of an anonymous poster. In order to do that, it must set a high bar for plaintiffs to meet in order to justify overriding the poster's rights.

The website in question is described in the ruling as "so controversial that it is blocked to employees of the Ontario Public Service" — something that Geist said is "not much of a threshold."

Warman is in the process of suing the Fourniers, alleging they "falsely and maliciously published and circulated" information on the site that claimed Warman had posted hateful, racist words. The allegations have not been proven in court.

Ontario judge orders website to reveal identity data on anonymous posters

[Johnny_Prime]

I find this precident somewhat disturbing.

[Jump]

A sissy boy with a lawyer. Nothing but trouble. Don't worry. JSR servers are located on Mars.

[Ratneck]

Lol Canada. Are they still a country?

[Chubain]

Originally Posted by Johnny_Prime

I find this precident somewhat disturbing.

The government has requested your real name and address for making anti-government statements.

@Jump, please send the requested information in ASAP.

[Thor]

Actually I find this ok.

What people do and say in the privacy of their home is private and should stay that way.

What people write for the entire world to read is not private, and if you aren't man enough to stand behind what you write then you shouldn't be writing it.

You can send my name and address to any judge that asks for it I really don't care.

Chubain there is a big difference between a judge and the government, wanna bet the CIA, FBI, NSA, etc. already have access to your email address and such?

Thor

[Ambrosius]

I agree with Thor. Seems to me that Freedom of Speech is a great thing. Freedom of Speech with a bag over your head -- much less so.

[Chubain]

Originally Posted by Thor

Actually I find this ok.

What people do and say in the privacy of their home is private and should stay that way.

What people write for the entire world to read is not private, and if you aren't man enough to stand behind what you write then you shouldn't be writing it.

You can send my name and address to any judge that asks for it I really don't care.

Chubain there is a big difference between a judge and the government, wanna bet the CIA, FBI, NSA, etc. already have access to your email address and such?

Thor

My dad wants your real name and address and bank account #s. Please send them in PM or post them on this thread.

[Bojay]

in which a judge ruled that a person's name, address and the name of their spouse are not information that one would expect to keep private from the state under such circumstances

I would think that is excactly why this infomation is kept secret

[Wild_Bill]

Freedom of speech does not mean the freedom to be, or say, stupid things. I don't have any problem with my name becoming public if a judge so orders. I learned a long time ago not to say things I wasn't willing or able to back up. I find it hard to sympathize with people who ignore the principle.

[Thor]

Originally Posted by Chubain

My dad wants your real name and address and bank account #s. Please send them in PM or post them on this thread.

Name and address you can have, if you want to steal from me come on over and try it personally.

Thor

[Ratneck]

Originally Posted by Thor

What people write for the entire world to read is not private, and if you aren't man enough to stand behind what you write then you shouldn't be writing it.

Without the right to publish anonymously we would never have had "Mark Twain" or even "Silence Dogood".

Allowing people to protest anonymously is so that they don't have to fear the backlash of the government or employer (etc.) is rather important. If you want to address an unpopular but true sentiment, you should have that ability without fear of backlash.

"Whistle Blowers" are anonymous people turning in illegal acts. Many companies, should they find out you were the one who blew the whistle, would take revenge on you so they could return to business as usual.

Anonymous tips to police help them in many areas full of people who simply don't want to get involved.

"Deep Throat" would have never been able to talk to Woodward and Bernstein had they not been able to protect him as an anonymous source.

Anonymity in public speech is a part of our heritage and part of what makes this country great. Just like any right, however, it can and does get abused. Should someone prove that a statement is libelous (or show cause to believe that it is) then I do believe the "anonymous" writer needs to provide their proof in order to remain anonymous. Barring that they should be exposed to the civil penalties provided for in law, which would indeed require them to be "exposed".

But getting rid of anonymous speech simply because some asshats post random crap on a giant bulletin board? It would take more rights from people then I think you're all realizing.

[Brooster]

This story reminds me of a squad website we had a few years ago. We were creating accounts using other pilot's handles (Razorskiss, Hopeskiss, whiteswan, etc...) and would make ridiculous statements to one another. It wasn't a public site, but someone told the other pilots what was being done and the "impersonated" pilots harassed the webmaster into giving out our IP addresses.

Sure enough, I started getting private messages on IRC from some of the pilots that were "impersonated", and they threatened to call the police and contact my ISP.

I guess the other part that comes into play here is, how will the webmaster act when these inquires roll in?

[Chubain]

Originally Posted by Brooster

This story reminds me of a squad website we had a few years ago. We were creating accounts using other pilot's handles (Razorskiss, Hopeskiss, whiteswan, etc...) and would make ridiculous statements to one another. It wasn't a public site, but someone told the other pilots what was being done and the "impersonated" pilots harassed the webmaster into giving out our IP addresses.

Sure enough, I started getting private messages on IRC from some of the pilots that were "impersonated", and they threatened to call the police and contact my ISP.

I guess the other part that comes into play here is, how will the webmaster act when these inquires roll in?

hahaha. I remember that. That was so funny. They were so pissed.

Has anyone seen razorskiss around?

[biteme]

Crap razorkiss is missing? I can only conclude that the rapture has taken place and he was the only one taken....the rest of us are screwed.....damn it.