Lawyer wants IP of a forum poster

Follow what Shawn said...I mean this guy has it worst then you: he's fighting the MPAA because he was accused of downloading Meet the Fockers when he didn't, and told to pay a $2500 fine which he denied because he was innocent! Do it the hard way, do it the Shawn way!

 

if a case actually makes it to court i would document the whole thing and then spread it names and all all over the internet for the "victim" to be laughed at

privacy policy or not... i would still value my users privacy

 

Sit on ur a$$ n wait for next letter..

If he does send one more.. den send him a letter from ur lawyer for mental harrasment

 

Dont give him the ip unless he show you the court order as Shawn already told legal action must be taken first.
Thanks.

 

i dont think you should ever make it easier to get someone's private information. it restricts free speech

 

Better yet, don't comply and then make a big deal out of it, so you look good in the eyes of your forum members (Oh, the site admins will stick up for us!).

 

I wouldn't hand over until I was ordered by a Judge too.

 

Agreed - don't reply, ignore the letter.

 

I believe 'ignore' is bad advice.

A letter from a lawyer carries all the weight of a letter from a plumber. As noted, they're not the law. In fact, in Canada if you complied with that letter by the lawyer you'd be in very serious breach of our privacy laws.

If it was me, I would:
- never hand over any information without a court order. Why would you give a private individual your information like that?
- see if they have a reasonable request about the post. If so, fix the post - delete it (I wouldn't just change it. If it's that bad, get rid of it). By having done that, they don't need the IP address. They're concern should be to fix the problem, and if you've fixed it, then any further communication is blustering. A judge I expect would look at them and say WTF are you doing? You got the problem fixed - quit harrassing. But what do I know, that's what I'd do. Anyway, if that's the case I'd just write back and tell them what I've done (deleted) and suggest that I believe the problem is now fixed - ignoring the IP request.
- if the request wasn't reasonable, I wouldn't delete the post. I'd just write back and tell them that they can't have the IP address without a court order,and that there's nothing in the post that they should have any concern about.

But ignoring the letter? I don't think that looks good at all. If they do have a case I think it makes you look bad. I believe that keeping communication going is the best thing you can do in most cases.

 

I actually agree with this. I wouldn't be so easy to hand something over like that. A forum is a public place and is for free speech. If it were the government asking me, I might reconsider, but if it was just a lawyer, I wouldn't hand it over quite that easily.

 

or do one better... remember those old bumper stickers saying 'hit me, i need the money'?

reply with 'Please sue, I need the publicity'

 

stick up for your forum users, tell the lawyer to go F himself. Your users will gain respect and loyalty for you.

 

Agreed..

Just tell him no. If he comes back with a court order no big deal. Just hand over the information if available.

 

Tell the lawyer to go pound sand. He's not law enforcement and can't make you do anything. Tell him to go get a court order. You are under no obligation to do what he says. All he can do is make threats. No matter how nasty his threat get, he still can't do anything but make larger threats until he gets a court order. His threats without a court order is just an attempt to take the path of least resistance.

 

Exactly what I was thinking.

Don't be intimidated by those pricks.

 

People value their privacy and they do not appreciate being backstabbed or sold out especially when they didnt have to be. If word got out that you compromised the privacy of one of your users willfully or through trickery(the lawyer is quite possibly just using scare tactics and might not have a chance in hell of getting a subpoena) then your forum's rep wouldnt benefit I can assure you.

This is a grey area though because your user also compromised the privacy(I suspect?) and reputation of this alleged "victim".

 

There's a system in place. Hats off to the lawyer for asking. But I would not supply the info he is after without a court order.

 

Tell him you will have your lawyer to call him and they could do lunch! - Don't give into the Man! Give him nothing. Make him do his own D.D.