The suit, filed against Yahoo! by a user of the service's
popular financial message boards, challenges the company's practice
of disclosing a user's personal information to third parties
without prior notice to the user.
Over the past year, Yahoo! has been inundated with lawsuits
issued by companies seeking the identities of individuals
anonymously posting information critical of the firms and their
executives. Without notifying the targeted users, and without
assessing the validity of the legal claims underlying the
subpoenas, Yahoo! is alleged to systematically disclose identifying
information such as users' names, e-mail addresses and internet
protocol addresses.
According to David L. Sobel, EPIC's General Counsel, "online
anonymity plays a critical role in fostering free expression on the
internet, and has clearly contributed to the popularity of the
medium." He said, "The US Supreme Court has ruled that anonymity is
a constitutional right, but practices such as those of Yahoo! may
make that right illusory on-line."
Chris Hansen, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union
who specialises in internet speech, said that his organisation
favours at least two protections for users of anonymous chat sites.
"Any complaint filed in court against an unknown internet defendant
should include specifics of the allegedly objectionable postings,"
he said. "Also, a judge should not allow a lawyer to issue
subpoenas in these cases without requiring that the internet
service provider notify the potential defendant that someone is
seeking information about him and giving him an opportunity to
enter court to protect his anonymity."
The lawsuit was filed in United States District Court in Los
Angeles by "Aquacool_2000," a pseudonym for the Yahoo! user whose
personal information was disclosed to AnswerThink Consulting Group,
Inc.
