Brian Burke, ex-Leafs GM, sues 18 unknown netizens for slander

[Northern_Piper]

Interesting development in the issue of bringing ordinary civil law to the wild, wild web:

Brian Burke, ex-Canucks, Maple Leafs GM, files defamation suit in B.C. Supreme Court

Lawyers for former Vancouver Canucks general manager Brian Burke filed a defamation suit in B.C. Supreme Court on Friday against 18 unnamed people for allegedly spreading lies about Burke having an affair with sportscaster Hazel Mae and fathering her child.

According to Burke’s notice of civil claim, the defendants — identified only by various Internet pseudonyms including “NOFIXEDADDRESS”, “LOOB”, “NAGGAH”, “SLOBBERFACE”, “NCOGNITO” AND “SIR PSYCHO SEXY” — spread false and defamatory statements by various means, “including through email, Internet bulletin board postings, Facebook pages and Twitter messages.”

I assume that the next step will be subpoenas from his lawyers to various net services, to get the real-life identities of those posters.

[Merneith]

And I suppose the step after that will be wikiing the Striesand Effect.

[zbuzz]

@Northern_Piper

Interesting development in the issue of bringing ordinary civil law to the wild, wild web:

Brian Burke, ex-Canucks, Maple Leafs GM, files defamation suit in B.C. Supreme Court

I assume that the next step will be subpoenas from his lawyers to various net services, to get the real-life identities of those posters.

18 defendants… that’s a lot of barns to rent.

[Northern_Piper]

@Merneith

And I suppose the step after that will be wikiing the Striesand Effect.

That’s always a risk with libel/slander actions - that suing will cause greater publicity for the slander than the original publication.

Just seems magnified now by the internet.

[jsquire]

I would think it more insulting to say that he was the Leafs GM.

[Northern_Piper]

defence of truth!

[hogarth]

I gave SLOBBERFACE and SIR PSYCHO SEXY a plate of corn muffins in 1947 to paint my chicken coop, and they never did it!