Model Outs Blogger

In an online defamation case, a Manhattan supreme court judge allowed Vogue cover girl Liskula Cohen to compel Google to identify an anonymous blogger who called her a “psychotic, lying, whoring ... skank." The judge rejected the blogger’s claim that the blogs “serve as a modern-day forum for conveying personal opinions, including invective and ranting,” and should not be treated as factual assertions.

Rosemary Port, who was then outed, sued Google -- which operates the blog, "Skanks in NYC" -- for failing to protect her right to privacy.


“Vogue model Liskula Cohen wins right to unmask offensive blogger,” Times, August 19, 2009, at http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article6801213.ece;
“Google lawsuit dispels the Web’s oldest tradition: anonymity,” Christian Science Monitor, August 20, 2009, at http://features.csmonitor.com/innovation/2009/08/20/google-lawsuit-dispels-the-webs-oldest-tradition-anonymity/; “Unmasked Google blogger to sue over privacy breach,” Times, August 24, 2009, at http://timesonline.typepad.com/law/2009/08/unmasked-google-blogger-to-sue-over-privacy-breach.html; “Model Liksula Cohen still not getting apology from blogger Rosemary Port,” New York Daily News, August 26, 2009, at http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2009/08/26/2009-08-26_model_liksula_cohen_still_not_getting_apology_from_blogger_rosemary_port.html;
“Stung by the Perfect Sting, New York Times, August 25, 2009, at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/26/opinion/26dowd.html?ref=opinion.