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Maryland Court to Decide Whether to Lift Cloak of Anonymity in Internet Defamation Suit
A Maryland Court has been asked to order the disclosure of the identity of subscribers to a newsletter. In Forensic Advisors v. Matrixx Initiatives, Matrixx, a pharmaceutical company is seeking a publisher's subscriber list to use in connection with a lawsuit filed against numerous individuals who posted allegedly derogatory comments about the company to an Internet discussion board.
Privacy and civil liberties advocates including EPIC, the Electronic Privacy Information Center have filed an amicus brief in support of the publisher's right to protect the list. The brief argues that the list ought to be protected under Maryland law that protects a journalist's sources. They further argue that subscribers have a right to remain anonymous under the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment, since disclosure of the list would deter readership and violate established privacy rights.
For a copy of the brief, visit:
http://www.epic.org/free_speech/forensic_amicus.pdf
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