Posting AC - a Thing of the Past?

c0lo writes to point out an article from the Indystar. From the article: "A Marion County judge has ruled, for the first time in Indiana, that news media outlets can be ordered by the court to reveal identifying information about posters to their online forums."

Re:For what reason?

[Ogive17]

If I were to go around the internet telling everyone that you are a child molester, wouldn't you want to find out my identity? Oh, I posted as an AP when I did it, tough luck. Now if a future employer google's your name it's all over the internet and you have to waste your time explaining it and I got off without even a slap on the wrist.
I think both sides have good arguments, I would hate for there to be a 'one size fits all' solution to this dilema. If someone is slandering my name on the internet anonymously, I want to go after that person. First I should have to prove the allegations are false, though.

Re:For what reason?

[smelch]

Extrapolate your own opinion.... do we search for people leaving threatening anonymous letters in somebody's mailbox, or is that protected free and anonymous speech?

Obviously internet comments are not the place to take any threat seriously though. They're like rap lyrics but less reliable.

Re:For what reason?

[MozeeToby]

It's simple really. If a serious threat of violence is made in an online forum, the police in the jurisdiction the threat is directed at go to a judge, fill out the paper work, and get a warrant. If someone is libeling you, you take the evidence, go to the judge, get a court order. It isn't as if this case is saying that anyone can make a request to get IP addresses of anonymous posters, it would still require a court order or warrant to get that information.

Re:For what reason?

[MozeeToby]

The supreme court disagrees [wikimedia.org].

Re:For what reason?

[Rary]

Of course, such people would not stoop to simply post such messages using someone else's computer / account / wifi, etc..

So what? The point of obtaining that kind of information isn't simply to blindly arrest whoever was identified. The point is to question the person as part of an ongoing investigation. If there is reason to believe that the person in question has committed an offence, then they may be arrested. But a name associated with an IP address or a forum account is not, in itself, sufficient evidence to get a conviction.