RSS
Twitter
Once Again, Public Official Thinks Its Illegal To Be An Anonymous Critic
from the the-right-to-anonymity dept
US Courts (unlike some other courts) have been quite good at recognizing that anonymity is part of free speech. Ruling after ruling after ruling by courts, specifically in dealing with things like anonymous blogging or forum posting have found that it's perfectly legal to be anonymous. That doesn't mean that you can defame others, but just being anonymous is not illegal, and an upset individual can't sue just to find out who the anonymous critics are.
Apparently, the Police Director in Memphis is unaware of such first amendment rights. Slashdot points us to the news that Memphis Police Director, Larry Godwin, is suing AOL to find out the name of a blogger who has been critical of Godwin. Of course, being critical also isn't illegal. But sometimes that's hard to understand when you're the target of the criticism. Hopefully a court explains the law to Godwin in short order.
