IF you have responsibility for messages on a forum, and I would imagine this applies to comments on a blog as well, then check out The Guardian's report on two recent court cases where the details of anonymous users were released via the courts.
The cases relate to the use of message boards on both a site for fans of Sheffield Wednesday Football Club and Sunderland property firm Pallion Housing, where posts were targeted at a rival housing organisation.
Judge Richard Parkes QC ordered that three Sheffield Wednesday fans whose postings might "reasonably be understood to allege greed, selfishness, untrustworthiness and dishonest behaviour", should be unmasked.
While Dan Tench, of Olswang, the law firm representing the housing organisation, said: "This case illustrates an increasingly important legal issue: proving who is responsible for the publication of anonymous material on the internet. This is likely to be a significant issue in defamation cases in the future."
The Guardian: Warning to abusive bloggers as judge tells site to reveal names
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