Star must identify anonymous posters to website, judge rules

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Indystar.com:

A Marion County judge has ruled, for the first time in Indiana, that news media outlets can be ordered by the court to reveal identifying information about posters to their online forums.

In rulings this week and last week, Marion Superior Court Judge S.K. Reid became the first judge in Indiana to rule on whether the state journalism shield law protects media outlets from being forced to disclose names of anonymous posters on their websites or other identifying information about those posters, said Kevin Betz, an attorney for Jeffrey Miller, former chief executive of Junior Achievement of Central Indiana.

The rulings came in a defamation lawsuit Miller filed last year. He is seeking to broaden the list of defendants in his case to include people who criticized him anonymously last year on websites run by The Indianapolis Star, Indianapolis Business Journal and WRTV (Channel 6).

The case is among a growing number of defamation claims nationally that target anonymous Internet posters to websites operated by news media and other owners.

"We are seeing more and more defamation lawsuits being filed, that's clear," said David Hudson, a First Amendment scholar at the First Amendment Center, affiliated with Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. Hudson said the public should be concerned if anonymous comments on public websites begin drying up because of the fear of lawsuits. "If this happens, then people will be less likely to comment" on public issues, he said.

All three Indianapolis media outlets fought the subpoenas served on them to turn over identifying information about posters to their sites.

The judge ruled that The Star and IBJ must turn over the identifying information, which typically tells a poster's Internet protocol address or Internet provider. Using that, an attorney can subpoena the Internet provider for the poster's real name.

The Star had fought the disclosure, saying in its 15-page motion that the shield law protects it from being forced to disclose names of anonymous posters on its IndyStar.com website, as does the Constitution and its guarantees of freedom of speech.

"Our practice is not to reveal the names" of people who post anonymously on The Star's website, said Star Editor and Vice President Dennis Ryerson. "We've long had a practice of protecting sources at all levels."

Ryerson wouldn't comment on the judge's ruling, except to say, "We now are reviewing our legal options."
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I'm worried about this. If successful, this ruling could have a chilling effect on online posting IMO. If certain people decide they're being "Defamed" when criticized, for their policies, for example, they could use this ruling to go after legitimate critics legally.