Supervisor Moves Forward Against Anonymous Bloggers

Image via WikipediaKudos to www.SuffolkMediaLaw.com newsletter for flagging a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette story last week involving Forward Township Supervisor Thomas DeRosa's successful pursuit of the identities of six anonymous bloggers whom he alleges defamed him on the online bulletin board, www.elizabethboro.com.

Court of Common Pleas Judge R. Stanton Wettick, Jr. ordered  information about the posters be turned over to the township supervisor, who claimed in a lawsuit filed last November that the anonymous comments accusing him of corruption impugned his reputation. The American Civil Liberties Union, which interceded on the online bulletin board's behalf, released the six bloggers' IP (Internet Protocol) addresses to DeRosa's counsel, which will enable the supervisor to petition the posters' respective Internet Service Providers to release the names.

The ACLU does not plan to appeal Judge Wettick's ruling.