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NY Court Defines Test for Obtaining Identities Behind Online Posts

By Noleen G. Walder
July 30, 2008

The authors of anonymous online posts that accused a former congressman of paying $25,000 to the mayor of Mamaroneck, NY, in connection with a home renovation project may soon find themselves the named defendants in a defamation action.

Westchester County Court Judge Rory J. Bellantoni held that after Richard Ottinger and his wife notified the online contributors of their right to intervene anonymously and stated a prima facie case of defamation against the fictitiously named defendants, the couple had sufficiently satisfied the standard necessary to pierce the free speech rights of the writers who allegedly posted false comments about the Ottingers on a Web site operated by The Journal News.

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