The Delaware Supreme Court on Wednesday reversed a decision by a lower court which required an ISP to reveal the identity of an anonymous blogger who targeted a local elected official. The decision was praised by advocates of free speech.
In a decision handed down in a 34-page opinion, the justices stated that Superior Court judges should have required Smyrna town councilman Patrick Cahill to make a stronger case that he and his wife were defamed by the blogger"s comments before ordering Comcast Cable Communications to reveal the identities of the four anonymous posters.
The comments in question were a series of obscenity-laced posts by the four that pointed to Cahill"s "obvious mental deterioration" and contained several sexual remarks about Cahill and his wife, Julia.