Loading ...Judge Tells Topix to Reveal IP Addresses of Trolls
Topix was one of the Internet’s first news aggregators. Anyone could create a news feed for a particular subject, and others could comment on stories in forums. Poor oversight of these forums has turned Topix into a cesspool in recent years as trolling and flaming have become quite common.
But that could change if a lawsuit successfully identifies the authors behind a notorious troll war.
Attorney Mark Lesher has filed suit in a Texas state court to discover the identities of 178 John and Jane Does who made potentially defamatory and libelous comments about a couple acquitted of criminal charges. Earlier this month, the judge in the case allowed Lesher to subpoena Topix for the IP addresses behind 1,700 individual comments posted on the website. Read the suit here.
Topix, which is owned by Tribune Company, Gannett, and McClatchy, will comply with the request despite not being named as a defendant in the case. Legal analysts are watching this case for a variety of reasons surrounding discovery. Lesher, however, just hopes the suit will serve as a warning to others who may consider posting defamatory comments online.
Earlier this month, I asked “How Do You Respond to Online Criticism?” In that article, I discussed how to manage your company’s (or individual) reputation online. The key is that responses should follow pre-determined action lists so that are both consistent and professional. In the case of Lesher’s clients, however, none of those techniques would work. The volume of offending comments were too numerous, too acidic, and so barbaric the victims had little recourse but to bring suit to stop it.
Unfortunately, Topix (as of 2/25/2009) has chosen to play the role of victim, shouting “censorship,” and directing visitors on its homepage to the actual thread that earned them a subpoena in the first place. Predictably, the forum has turned into a flame war of epic proportion. It is clear that Topix is more interested in the volume of visitors, comments, and potential click-through revenue to police its message forums. Such a cavalier attitude could open Topix itself to legal action in the future.
In the mean time, Lesher’s suit may achieve its secondary goal of bringing a little decorum to the Topix message boards (His primary goal, honestly, it to win an award for his client). I have noticed a decline in anonymous flames across ten different forums this week. If this becomes a long-term trend, then reputation management will become much easier for corporate communication departments as well as individuals victimized by others with an axe to grind.
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