Comments on: “Skanks in NYC” Slander Lawsuit Outs Anonymous Blogger

By: Lorecee

Lorecee — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 02:10:23 +0000

Most of the sympathy online seems to be with Cohen. I understand this (I wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of an attack like Port’s), but may I suggest that Ms. Cohen should have had a chat with her agent before talking to her lawyer? Right now if you search “skanks in NYC,” you get 10 pages of Google results with Liskula Cohen’s name in them. I guarantee that this is not the kind of publicity that a supermodel wants if she’s trying to find work.

By: Passive Income

Passive Income — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 02:04:50 +0000

@sumeet did you actually read the post – clearly not! This is an interesting outcome and strongly suggests that there is free speech on the Internet and no I have no intention of passing my opinion pieces of the rip-off’s on the Internet past any attorney any time soon!
I totally agree – I never thought Google (or Wordpress.com for that matter) had any obligation at all to protect my anonymity if I was using their free platforms – you’d be much better off getting a privacy-protected domain name!
Lissie

By: sumeet bal

sumeet bal — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 01:50:05 +0000

I strongly believe that this case/debarcle will have a great impact on the way a blog is written from now on. The debate resides firmly on whether an individual feels that they can go above and beyond objective criticism and have their anonymity preserved.
In this case, going above and beyond appears to have been done in a vicious enough manner so that the judge involved had make an example of Rosemary Port, to curb this kind of hide and seek (behind Google) defamation happening again. Rosemary in turn should be glad that Liskula Cohen opted to take no further action. This all begs the question whether Rosemary undertook her anonymous blog in order to avoid a potential defamation case to protect her wallet. Now Port has managed to get away from this case with little or no financial burden, her case against Google could damage the relationship between blog writer’s and Google in the future. Surely we all have to show some common sense in the way we express our opinions, and the legal obligations of the companies we work through.