Jane Doe ruling limits effect of RIAA legal defeat
"At the same time the DC Appeals court was struggling with anonymous music fans, a Superior Court in Connecticut was struggling with an anonymous e-mailer to a French company, La Societe Metro Cash & Carry France.
Apparently this e-mailer sent electronic communications to many of the company's employees questioning the wisdom and abilities of corporate officers. La Societe Metro sued in France under French defamation law, and also filed a discovery lawsuit against Time Warner (the ISP from which the e-mail originated) in Connecticut. The French company wanted the ISP to give up the subscriber information.
After discussing the history of anonymous speech, and the First Amendment rights to post material on the Internet, the Connecticut court ordered Time Warner to reveal the subscriber information, finding that the French company had shown a prima facie case of defamation, and that the subscriber information was relevant."
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