Internet Trolls May Be Coming to an End

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

In a case that might have First Amendment consequences and will certainly strike fear in the hearts of anonymous trolls, a Virginia appeals court upheld a contempt ruling against Yelp, demanding that it release the identities of seven reviewers whom a carpet cleaner intends to sue for defamation.

Joe Hadeed of Alexandria's Hadeed Carpet Cleaning is meticulous about responding to reviewers of his business on Yelp, but in mid-2012, he noticed several negative reviews whose writers didn't seem to show up on his customer rolls. Since that would mean they'd made up their accusations of "shoddy service," Hadeed sued them for making defamatory statements, according to Tuesday's court opinion.

Except, since he didn't know who to sue, he got a subpoena for Yelp to release info about the reviewers' identities. Yelp threw Hadeed shade, so he won a court order of contempt against the company.

Alexandria's state Court of Appeals said that order was legit. "While 'an internet user does not shed his free speech rights at the log-in screen,' the right to speak with anonymity is not absolute, Judge William Petty said for the majority," according to Courthouse News Service:

"Generally, a Yelp review is entitled to First Amendment protection because it is a person's opinion about a business that they patronized," Petty wrote. "But this general protection relies upon an underlying assumption of fact: that the reviewer was a customer of the specific company and he posted his review based on his personal experience with the business. If this underlying assumption of fact proves false... the review is based on a false statement of fact - that the reviewer is writing his review based on personal experience. And 'there is no constitutional value in false statements of fact.'"
It seems like a bit of a fishing expedition, wrapped around a catch-22: Hadeed suspects that the reviewers aren't customers, and if they're making up facts, they lose First Amendment protection and are liable for defaming him. But Hadeed can't possibly prove that until he knows their identities, which requires a court to rule that First Amendment protections don't apply.

No matter; the court broke that catch-22 for Hadeed, in part because Virginia laws about unmasking anonymous internet users favored him. "[T]he Doe defendants have a constitutional right to speak anonymously over the Internet," Petty wrote. "However, that right must be balanced against Hadeed's right to protect its reputation."

Perhaps Hadeed's reputation would benefit from less time in court and more time on the job. He averages between 1 and three stars now on Yelp. Reviewers on multiple Yelp pages call the business "flat-out dishonest" and "high priced," say he holds rugs "hostage," and fret that their "carpets looked worse after Hadeed 'cleaned' them."

They were the brave ones. "f he doesn't like your anonymous Yelp review," wrote user "Peter B." of Deep River, Conn., "he will literally make a federal case out if it."

http://www.courts.state.va.us/opinions/opncavwp/0116134.pdf

I wonder if this is going to pick up steam and spread across the net?

 

[KevanG]

I'm all for hunting down pedophiles or people who cause suicides through harassment online but suing for giving bad reviews is bull****.

 

[DarkSovereignty]

The uprising has begun. Everybody, let's storm Google!

 

[JJJ's Ulcer]

Kevan is just worried because he'll be forced to reveal his name is actually spelled "Kevin."

 

[KevanG]

But won't they unleash the killer robots?

 

[KevanG]

Kevan is just worried because he'll be forced to reveal his name is actually spelled "Kevin."

Dagnabbit I have a birth certificate unlike some presidents.

THANKS OBAMA!

 

[DarkSovereignty]

Let's see it then

 

[JJJ's Ulcer]

My name is not actually JJJ's Ulcer either. I know, shocking. I'm actually Parker Wayne.

 

[KevanG]

I would but I have to go to Hawaii to find someone elses first.

 

[DarkSentinel]

Shaddup, Kevin.

 

[enterthemadness]

Dagnabbit I have a birth certificate unlike some presidents.

THANKS OBAMA!

Obama and I lost our birth certificates in Hawaii together.

 

[JJJ's Ulcer]

What were you guys doing together?

 

[enterthemadness]

What were you guys doing together?

Fighting Godzilla with super powers.

 

[JJJ's Ulcer]

Godzilla lives in Japan, dummy. He can't even fly or nothing! Duh! Now what were you REALLY doing?

 

[enterthemadness]

Godzilla lives in Japan, dummy. He can't even fly or nothing! Duh! Now what were you REALLY doing?

Fighting Zilla dressed up as Godzilla.

 

[charl_huntress]

So he's suing anons for slander? Hmmm...sounds like a waste of money to me and a way to drum up bad publicity that wouldn't be good in the long run. I bet his next step is to sue Yelp.

 

[NickNitro]

The batman/spiderman boards are going to be dead.

 

[Erzengel]

I think it's my right to openly mock people for opinions/interests that defer from mine.

 

[Warhammer]

I'm ready for some lawsuits. Just bring it.

 

[The Question]

When people threaten feminist bloggers with violent rape over Twitter, no one gives a damn. But when someone's business is vaguely at risk, that's when they law gets involved. That's the American way!

 

[DarkSovereignty]

Oooo I want to get sued! This guy couldn't clean a carpet if it bought him dinner first

 

[Godzilla2000]

Fighting Zilla dressed up as Godzilla.

Darn it, I thought I took care of him in Sidney Australia. Lousy imposter.

 

[Teelie]

When people threaten feminist bloggers with violent rape over Twitter, no one gives a damn. But when someone's business is vaguely at risk, that's when they law gets involved. That's the American way!

Gotta call ******** on that one. A lot of people condemn that kind of harassment and it isn't being ignored. Making grandoise claims of "no one gives a damn" just to bring it up is being sensationalist.

And besides this will not have wide reaching ramifcations anyways. It's not going to change much on the internet and taking it as an attack on the anonymity of the internet is really more Fox News style exaggeration.

 

[Superman 1265]

4Chan gets a sudden dramatic drop in activity.

 

[DarkSentinel]

Oooo I want to get sued! This guy couldn't clean a carpet if it bought him dinner first

Bravo, Lesser DS. Well done.