15 minutes of idiocy

First read this.

Once again for those too lazy to read, Google is being forced to release the IP and email addy for an anonymous blogger because they said some nasty things about some random ageing model, who once their true identity is revealed will, I’m sure, get sued by said models lawyers for whatever trumped up charges they can think of.

First of all, this is bullshit. The things that were said were nasty but ultimately harmless especially since the blogger was just some random anonymous blogger (like myself). If this was a mainstream blogger with a modicum of influence on the market, maybe I could be convinced that the things said could be damaging, but its not. The only reason this is an issue is because, I’m sure the model’s handlers simply want some limelight, stretch out that 15 mins and feed off what’s left of her popularity.

Here is what is going to happen. They find out who the blogger is, then open a defamation lawsuit and throw the book at them. The blogger will then have to pay exorbitant lawyer fees to fight this frivolous lawsuit which the prosecutor has no hope of winning in an actual court. They can’t win because, in order to win a defamation case the prosecutor has to prove that some damage was done, they have to prove it was intentionally done and if they try to throw libel in the case, they have to prove the things said were lies. Can’t be done. However, the defendant still has to go to court, pay all their lawyer fees just to fight the stupidity and end up paying either way. So the blogger will get screwed over financially either way.

This is an attack on free speech, an attack on common sense and an example of how truly greedy people really are. Also I think this is a prime example of how we need to change the tort laws of our nation. In my opinion the only thing we need to do to prevent frivolous lawsuits is institute a ‘loser pays’ policy. Meaning whoever loses a given case must pay the other’s court and lawyer fees.