Ever considered the potential monetary gain to be had by hurling personal abuse around on Internet-based publications? No? You might in future if an angry blogger succeeds in squeezing millions of dollars from Google Inc.
What price anonymity? $15 million should do it. Image: Blogger.com/Google.
More pointedly, speaking with the New York Daily News, blogger Rosemary Port claims Google recently violated her privacy rights after a Manhattan court forced the search giant to reveal her identity in relation to defamatory insults directed at Vogue cover model Liskula Cohen.
The anonymous insults in question, which were posted to ‘Skanks of New York’, a blog service under the umbrella of Google-owned Blogger.com, focused on Cohen’s personal hygiene and sexual activities and resulted in the model suing in order to force Google’s legal compliance in unveiling her attacker’s identity.
Seemingly incensed by what she sees as a violation of her privacy rights, Port is now looking to turn defence into attack and is preparing to bleed Google to the tune of $15 million USD after accusing it of “breaching its fiduciary duty to protect her expectation of anonymity.”
“When I was being defended by attorneys for Google, I thought my right to privacy was being protected,” explained Port. “But that fell right through the cracks.”
“Without any warning, I was put on a silver platter for the press to attack me,” she added. “I would think that a multi-billion dollar conglomerate would protect the rights of all its users.”
However, Google’s insists that its terms of use clearly explain that everyone using the Blogger service agrees their personal information can be passed onto a third party if demanded by a legal court order.
The Skanks of New York blog is no longer live.
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