Internet anonymity challenged ?

Orbital Shark said:

Oh dear, looks like i was right in choosing a username that connected me to my postal address

DarkNovaGundam said:

Posting anonymously is everyone's right, if she wins then, the online identity of everyone isn't safe.

Is it me or is everyone sue happy?

While everyone may or may not be happy to file frivolous law suits, that's beside the point.

Anonymity is not right. It is a byproduct of new technology. And, when abused, it SHOULD be subject to forfeiture.

Case in point, no one has the right to defame someone, regardless of their ability to do it anonymously.

From the story, it appears that the woman DID purchase the dress at question from the mall from which she was evicted. That's lame, but I can see it happening.

However, an anonymous poster has claimed that the reason for eviction was that the woman exposed herself to another woman and children. If that's true, then the woman in skimpy clothing could be prosecuted criminally for a simple misdemeanor or, even, a sex offense. Suddenly, something that seemed lame is quite serious.

And what if the anonymous poster is simply running off at the mouth? That IS defamation. The woman in skimpy clothing deserves her day in court. And the poster -- nor the newspaper -- should be able to hide behind internet anonymity. The poster should be held accountable for his/her words and the newspaper should be held accountable for researching its story and getting the facts straight.

On the other hand, if the newspaper can produce evidence that what the anonymous poster said was true, then the case should be thrown out.