Internet Stalking, Libel, and Slander

[foolsrushin]

What is the name of your state? Currently residing in CO, but NJ is still permanent residence.

For the past few years, myself and several others have been attacked within an Internet newsgroup (NNTP). My personal experience came to be about three years ago when I defended a friend against the accusations made against him. The stalkers attention then turned to me. Under a pseudo name and posting from an Italy based anonymous untraceable account, he routinely posted my personal information (name, address and phone number), my wife's name, and other personal information. He then began to post that I was a ****, anti-semitic, a racist, gay, and and other non-truths across various newsgroups with different pseudo names. I am none of those things and in fact I am Jewish. He then turned his attention to my wife by posting my phone number and asking people to call her for swinging, sex, and other disgusting things.

For three years I tried in vain to find this individuals real identity. The anonymous posting facility in Italy would not release his information (including IP address) unless I had a legal entity ask for it. I tried my state attorney general and they would not pursue it.

Finally, three weeks ago I had a break in my investigation when he accidentally posted in another newsgroup asking a question about a purchase. He then tried to cover this up by posting under his anonymous account, but it was too late. I had is IP address and from there I was able to (with help from other victims) trace all of his posts and put them together. I now have his personal information and I refuse to do what he did to me. However, I would like to sue for damages and prevent him from ever doing this again to anyone else.

So I have a case? Can someone please recommend an attorney who would take this on? There is a lot more i can say about this, but I will not post it on the Internet.

 

[Quaere]

1. I don’t know the statute of limitations in your case because first you would have to determine which state has jurisdiction. The statute of limitation on claims for defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, or invasion of privacy is usually one year. You can only bring claims on incidents that are within the statute of limitations. You can USE everything he has done as evidence, but you have to have a timely cause of action.

2. It may be harder than you think to find a cause of action you can prove. Name calling is not always considered defamation. He must have said something that a reasonable person would have considered a statement of fact.

3. Good luck finding an attorney that has the slightest clue as to how to handle this. There are very few attys who seem to have any understanding of Internet forums, culture, or technical matters. There are even fewer, that are well versed in the kinds of torts you are talking about. You have to understand that if an atty needs the work, he will NOT tell you he is unqualified to do your case justice. If you want to atty to take the case on a contingency, you would have to know for sure that the defendant would be able to pay any judgment against him. Start looking for an atty by searching the Internet for defamation cases from your state (or the victim’s, depending on where you plan to bring suit). See if there are any recent cases on line, look at which side won the case and who represented them. THAT will be an attorney who has a clue about your situation.

4. You could have gotten the Italian company to give up the identity, by filing a lawsuit against “John Doe”. Once you filed suit, you would have been able to get a court order to get the identity.

 

[Garg]

hmmm

Hmm wonder if that last bit would work on my craiglist thing?

You situation totally sucks, i hope you get whoever did it to you.


Im kind of going through something similar right now.