Meet John Doe: Internet Defamation Plaintiffs Can’t Wait

Masked by the Web’s anonymity, Internet users feel free to flame celebrities, blast politicians, or blow the whistle on employers for corporate misdeeds.

Burned by the postings, many plaintiffs resort to defamation suits. But in addition to the usual litigation issues, plaintiffs often find another one: plenty of defendants with the same name, John Doe.

“If we don’t know who they are, we don’t know where they are and we don’t necessarily know what court to file in,” says Gary Nissenbaum of Union, N.J., managing principal of Nissenbaum Law Group, which practices Internet law in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. “Part of the reason this defamatory speech is so ubiquitous is because people assume they can never be found.”

But many Internet users forget one important thing: That cloak of anonymity has holes in it. The question now before the courts is exactly how big those holes should be.

Continue reading "Meet John Doe" at this link in the January ABA Journal.