Plain Dealer outs judge as anonymous poster

You knew this was coming ... judge sues. For $50 mil. Anonymity and privacy have their price!

http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/local_news/judge-files-%2450m-suit-against-plain-dealer

 

Good luck.

If the P-D's comment agreement is anything like most, the judge has a tough row to hoe. The information is NOT confidential.

Methinks, she's not a very bright judge.

 

Hey, somebody had to graduate last from judge school.

 

You are preaching to the choir. We have that same problem at my shop. I hate the forums. We have plenty of morons posting on ours. It was nice to see that judge taken down a peg.

 

When we went to paid online, our comments plummeted to near nothing.

 

Here's the money graph, if you will:

"In addition, we reserve the right to use the information we collect about your computer, which may at times be able to identify you, for any lawful business purpose, including without limitation to help diagnose problems with our servers, to gather broad demographic information, and to otherwise administer our Website."

I'm assuming the phrase "including without limitation" is just a new way of saying "including but not limited to ..." If I'm right about that, I doubt the judge has a case unless she wrote them a letter (per terms of the user agreement) that specifically said she didn't want them to disclose anything about her.

If anybody smarter than I am -- and that includes most you -- has a different take, please do share.

http://www.cleveland.com/privacypolicy/

 

Don't get rid of comments -- charge for them. $7.95 for the first 25 words and $4.95 for each additional block of 25. Require the commenter to identify himself and conduct identity verification, in part by using the poster's credit card information.

 

I blog online for a site that publishes weekly for a niche audience. I shake my head in disbelief on how inaccurate, blatant, and juvenile the comment section is. But what gets my goat is that some of these people think they wrote such a great (shitty) comment, they click on the 'recommendation' button to gloss themselves.

I am more than willing to pay to read and comment on my newspaper online. $7.95 for the first 25 words? Where do I send the check?!

 

I don't know who I'm more disgusted with the judge or the PD. Both are completely unprofessional.

I'm no expert on the legal system, so I'll focus on the PD. I'm sure they're trying to balance free speech and personal privacy, but as a private citizen I'm appalled that something I posted on what I thought was an anonymous message board isn't.

Dr. J and I share this computer, and he often posts under my handle on this site because he forgot his password. He also posts on other message boards, but the computer is still registered to me. I'm always careful, but should I be worried?

 

Is Dr. J an out-of-control racist who posts ignorant and hateful things?
No.
You'll be fine, probably.
Nothing you do on a computer is anonymous and you should be prepared for any consequences as a result.
As for the Cleveland judge. She's just dumb and assumed that it was protected speech but she should have known better. And simply risen above the fray, but she didn't and a price will be paid.
I suspect the state bar, slash judges' ethics committee or whatever Ohio does, will take an interest and she'll be punished as much as either group will allow.
Best guess is she won't be a judge by the time this is all over.

 

IMO, The comments are the thing that really suffer from editorial staff reductions. The sites of the vast majority of newspaper websites are not properly vetted, and frankly I'm surprised there hasn't been a wave of libel suits over them.

That said, do the people of Ohio really want this judge presiding over murder trials? Based on how she has acted in this instance it's fair to question her aptitude for that particular job.

 

You got that right.