In 2003, a fund manager posted a number of false allegations on the discussion board on the Motley Fool website. The allegations made were about the Chief Executive of a large financial services group. The allegations were viewed 49 times online before they were taken down by the website administrators.
Motley Fool was ordered to reveal all details that it had on the anonymous poster, including his or her IP address. The IP address led to the anonymous poster’s employers who revealed his identity. Once the poster’s identity was revealed, proceedings were commenced against him. In March 2005, the proceedings were settled - the anonymous poster agreeing to make a public apology and pay damages and substantial costs to the claimant.
The case illustrates how the courts will order ISPs and website operators to reveal the identity of anonymous wrongdoers using pseudonyms. Although this case did not end with a court decision, the publicity surrounding the case resulted in many ISPs and website operators issuing new codes of conduct and terms and conditions to its users. The underlying message being that very little, if anything, can be done on the Internet which is truly anonymous.
This article first appeared in our Technology Annual Review, March 2006. To view this publication, please click here to open a new window.
