|
Google hands over blogger's
IP address
Nick Farrell
The
Inquirer
Thursday November 29, 2007
A BLOGGER who has made a name for himself insulting
Israeli local councillors has been outed by the "do no evil"
search engine outfit Google.
Normally anyone wanting to find a blogger's IP address would
have to go through a lengthy court procedure before Google would
consider handing the information over.
However in this case all it took was a quiet word from the Israeli
judge who mentioned the word 'criminal defamation'.
The 'slanderous' posts were stuck up over the last year about
three councillors including local council chairman Gideon Idan,
Shaarei Tikva director general Haim Blumenfeld and council member
Avi Yokobovich who were standing during yesterday's election.
(Article continues below)
The blogger accused the men of various crimes including pretending
to be handicapped in order to receive discounts on local property
taxes, receiving bribes from a contractor, and having ties to
criminal gangs.
Google said it would not hand over the IP address with its lawyers
muttering stuff about free speech.
However in a pre-ruling, Judge Oren Schwartz said that the blog's
content raised suspicions of criminal conduct, and Google rolled
over.
According to the Globes .co.il Judge Schwartz was set to rule
that the slander could be tantamount to 'criminal defamation'.
This is a weird law which has been outlawed in many parts of the
civilised world because it is used to lock up journalists who
write bad things about governments.
It seems that Google realised that if it did not give the councillors
what they wanted, it could be charged with being involved in a
criminal conspiracy.
More here
|
INFOWARS:
BECAUSE THERE'S A WAR ON FOR YOUR MIND
|
|
