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Tri-Cities Personal News & Media
Center U.S. Internet
defamation suit tests online anonymity
June 17, 2007
It bills itself as the world's
"most prestigious college discussion board," giving a glimpse into
law school admissions policies, post-graduate social networking and
the hiring practices of major law firms.
But according to a report on
Reuters the AudoAdmit site, widely
used by law students for information on schools and firms, is also
known as a venue for racist and sexist remarks and career-damaging
rumors.
Now it's at the heart of a
defamation lawsuit that legal experts say could test the anonymity
of the Internet.
After facing lewd comments and
threats by posters, two women at Yale Law School filed a suit in
U.S. District Court in New Haven, Connecticut, that includes
subpoenas for 28 anonymous users of the site, which has generated
more than 7 million posts since 2004.
The plaintiff said she believes the
harassing remarks, which lasted nearly two years, cost her an
important summer internship. After interviewing with 16 firms, she
received only four call-backs and ultimately had zero offers -- a
result considered unusual given her qualifications.
The suit is being watched closely
to see if the posters are unmasked, a step that could make anonymous
chat room users more circumspect. It also underlines the growing
difficulty of protecting reputations online as the Web is used
increasingly to screen prospective employees and romantic partners.
"They can't hide behind anonymity
while they are saying these scurrilous and menacing things," said
Eugene Volokh, a professor of law at the University of California,
Los Angeles.
He said the site was not liable
under federal protections that are more lenient on Web sites than TV
and newspapers. Prosecuting the manager could also be difficult
because he did not write the posts, Volokh added. But the anonymous
posters look liable and their careers could be jeopardized, he said.
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