Ruling on NightJack author Richard Horton kills blogger anonymity

An interesting development from the UK:
In the first case dealing with the privacy of internet bloggers, the judge ruled that Mr Horton had no "reasonable expectation" to anonymity because "blogging is essentially a public rather than a private activity".

The judge also said that even if the blogger could have claimed he had a right to anonymity, the judge would have ruled against him on public interest grounds. -- Times Online
Back in 2003, my division chair said he would support a university blogging portal only if members blogged under their own name. That turns out to have worked out well for us.  I don't, however, require commenters to prove who they say they are. 

The Las Vegas Review-Journal says it has been served with a federal grand jury subpoena seeking information on people who posted supposedly threatening anonymous comments on a story about a tax fraud trial. -- The Register

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