No privacy for foul poster
Posted by Lisette García on December 4, 2009 at 3:00 PM
A state trial court judge Thursday ordered The Myrtle Beach Sun in South Carolina, U.S., to disclose the true identity of "Elmer Fudd," who posted potentially libelous remarks about the area's chamber of commerce on the newspaper's Web site, The Myrtle Beach Sun Thursday reported. The newspaper announced Friday that the poster's email is noadtax@gmail.com but did not know the individual's actual name, The Sun reported Friday.
On the editorial side, the compelled disclosure runs up against the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment protection of freedom of press and expression as well as the Fourth and Fifth Amendments' protection of privacy and self-incrimination. For business purposes, though, the ruling signals that publishers may incur significant legal costs in defending suits prompted by readers' alleged abuse of interactive media.
On the editorial side, the compelled disclosure runs up against the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment protection of freedom of press and expression as well as the Fourth and Fifth Amendments' protection of privacy and self-incrimination. For business purposes, though, the ruling signals that publishers may incur significant legal costs in defending suits prompted by readers' alleged abuse of interactive media.
The lawsuit and resulting interim order come even as traditional media seeks to engage potential readers in new ways, such as by integrating highly volatile social media tools including Twitter and Google Wave.
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