Drew Wilson
April 14th, 2010, 10:09 PM
HALIFAX, N.S. - Be careful what you say online about this story.
A Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge says Internet anonymity shouldn't be a shield for legal actions and has ordered a newspaper and Google Inc. to provide the identities of people who posted comments about Halifax's top firefighters.
The newspaper and Google said they would comply.
More... (http://www.metronews.ca/ottawa/canada/article/502710--halifax-court-orders-newspaper-to-cough-up-names-of-anonymous-commentators)
I guess Canadians need to use proxies from now on I guess.
Signa
April 14th, 2010, 11:11 PM
Shit like this makes me want to just stop using the internet completely. I wonder if I could even unjack myself at this point.
mountain_rage
April 15th, 2010, 01:10 AM
90% of libel suits should not be allowed, they should only be applicable in situations where it can be proven that people are abusively trying to defame a persons character. Such cases as someone calling your acquaintances with false claims to do you harm, experts making claims about an individual while representing his profession, advertising in a public setting, etc. Private communications, and isolated cases on social networking sites should not constitute libel. It should only apply in cases where there is highly calculated attempts to ruin someone emotionally or financially, not simply people making statements about someones actions. This is just an example of old laws being applied to modern social infrastructure in which it no longer makes sense. Prior to the internet you had to go out of your way to get enough exposure to incite a libel lawsuit, if he wins this case, then all that would be required is a lack of judgment while posting online. That I'm sure was not the intent of the original law, and the law needs to be rejigged.
As for the case, I don't know of the case in question, but firefighter culture in general leaves a lot to be desired. It is one of the few workplaces that still has some ridiculous mentality that the individuals can act at work as if they would in their own home. A quick search online will quickly reveal documented cases of sexual assault, drug use, viewing pornography, alcohol consumption, and harassment of female fire fighters. Worse yet, in many instances these instances will be covered up by using pier pressure of an entire hall, unions, and legal pressure. There is a lot of work left to be done to take firehalls out of the 1930's male centric mentality.
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/Fire-department-moves-senior--58660122.html
http://www.questia.com/googleScholar.qst;jsessionid=LGHQnlk2v9LF8QpJ2Q4ph JZlNS9DrpKYH1FlhN2TP5TQJjqpl1w1!-1151704675!-459975982?docId=5000350604
http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=7220248
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2010/03/30/1069948/firefighter-fired-for-viewing.html
http://www.firehouse.com/news/top-headlines/fla-ff-fired-watching-woman-shower
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-75583397.html