Google to Hand over Blogger’s IP Address

“In an unprecedented move, Google Inc has agreed to supply the IP address of an Israeli blogger who used ‘Google Blogger’ for a blog in which he slandered Shaarei Tikva council members running for reelection. The election is being held today,” reports Israel’s Globes Online newspaper.

For more than a year, the anonymous blogger slandered three Shaarei Tikva councilmen: local council chairman Gideon Idan, Shaarei Tikva director general Haim Blumenfeld, and council member Avi Yokobovich. The blogger accused the men of criminal acts, such as pretending to be handicapped in order to receive discounts on local property taxes, receiving bribes from a contractor, and having ties to criminal gangs.

The councilmen eventually sued the blogger and “also asked for a court order ordering Google to disclose the blogger’s IP address”. Judge Oren Schwartz said that the blog’s content raised suspicions of criminal conduct. The paper says:

“Google initially said that disclosing the blogger’s identity violated rulings on the balance between freedom of expression and a person’s right to his reputation.”

In other words, freedom of speech does not include the right to slander…..

There’s a discussion at Slashdot.