Mutt Media | The Daily Bone 8.18.09 Judge rules Google must give up identity of “anonymous” blogger

Google must give up identity of blogger who posted defamatory remarks about model Liskula Cohen

Once upon a (recent) time, there was a blog site on Blogger.com (Google-owned) called “Skanks in NYC”. Isn’t that charming?

According to Timesonline.com, the blogger posted remarks such as the following:

“I would have to say the first-place award for ‘Skankiest in NYC’ would have to go to Liskula Gentile Cohen,” the blogger “Anonymous” wrote in one posting. The blog, since removed, ridiculed the former Australian Vogue covergirl as a “40-something” who “may have been hot 10 years ago”, when she was actually 36.

Justice Joan Madden rejected the blogger’s claim that the blogs “serve as a modern-day forum for conveying personal opinions, including invective and ranting”, and should not be treated as factual assertions.

The model was looking forward last night to discovering the identity of the alleged acquaintance who insulted her. “Everybody is waiting to see who this coward is,” Steven Wagner, her lawyer, said.

Andrew Pederson, a Google spokesman, said: “We sympathise with anyone who may be the victim of cyberbullying. We also take great care to respect privacy concerns and will only provide information about a user in response to a subpoena or other court order.” (author: James Bone)

This is not the first time Cohen has been in the news for something conflict-related. A couple of years back while at the Hudson Hotel, she got into an argument with a guy who took a drink off of her table. After throwing a drink at him, he hit her in the face with a bottle of vodka, causing her to get over 40 stitches and, according to her account at the time, effectively end her modeling career.

How do these scrapes with others keep ending up in the newspaper and why does trouble seem to find her? I haven’t a clue. But I do know this: there is no guarantee of anonymity on the internet!!!!

Very soon this blogger will be forced out from the shadows and his/her identity will be known. Soon after that, no doubt Cohen will file a defamation lawsuit and will hopefully prevail, sending a strong message to anyone who seeks to publicly defame another.

I applaud this ruling, how about you? Post your thoughts!

Mutt Media | Daily Bone 5.18.09 | Top 10 Tips for marketing yourself online. Tip #4: Start Blogging!

Another Tip from Mutt Media NY

Mutt Media Tip #4

4.  Start blogging! Create a Blog about your professional life and area of expertise. This can be a great way to reach a wide audience. If your Blog is written correctly Search Engines will pick it up. This can be an extremely beneficial tool in extending your reach to a wider audience and get people talking about you.

Just remember, content is key! Make sure your posts are in your voice, authentic and written by you. Research your material whenever possible and check your facts if you are presenting yourself as some kind of authority on a subject. Give proper credit where due. This applies to all images and authors of other material you may be embellishing upon.

There is nothing wrong with linking to other blogs and websites; in fact, this can help you! The web is built on the premise of many people and their ideas being interwoven, so when applicable, this is a common and useful practice. To ensure your visitors will return to your blog, keep the content fresh, and blog often. Make it easy and enjoyable and your visitors will hopefully share the link and spread the word.

Remember, “If you build it, they will come” (Field of Dreams! – see what I mean by proper credit? I can’t take credit for writing that line!). So build your blog and populate it with content that is relevant. You never know who will read it and recognize your inner genius!

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