Spokane paper ordered to give info about anonymous commenter
A judge ruled Tuesday that the Spokesman-Review must provide information that could identify an anonymous reader who posted a comment in February about Kootenai County Republican Party chairwoman Tina Jacobson.
Tina Jacobson
Under the name “almostinnocentbystander,” the commenter questioned whether $10,000 reportedly missing from the Kootenai County Central Committee might be “stuffed inside Tina’s blouse.”
The judge ordered the newspaper to give Jacobson any information disclosing the identity, e-mail address, and IP addresses of “almostinnocentbystander.”
The paper conceded that the blouse comment “wasn’t nice” but pointed out that it was posted on a site where people are “sometimes airing outrageous views.”
The Spokesman-Review hasn’t yet decided whether to appeal.
* Spokesman-Review must provide information about anonymous commenter (Spokesman.com)
* Can you be sued for anonymous comments on the Internet? (Digital Trends)
* Commenter kicked off site because of baseless accusation (Spokesman.com)
