"Why, someone ought to sue!" And then... someone did.

Remember the good old days of the Internet, when everyone got involved in flame wars and you could say anything about anyone and no one could do anything about it?

Those days are over.

If you operate a blog, log into chat rooms, post in message boards, or send e-mail, you are strongly advised to read this news item about a legal case in New York in which a blogger (using Blogger.com, by the way, the same megasite this blog is on) insulted a fashion model, and the judge ordered Google to turn over the blogger's IP address and e-mail address to the model's attorney, who plans to sue the blogger for defamation.

When you finish that, see some of these other views on the issue: ZDNET, CBS, Guardian. This is big. Think about this. Very, very carefully. People have been insulting each other on the Internet for well over a decade.

And now the gateway to hell has been opened. The lawyers are coming out.

What do you think will happen next, now that a legal precedent has been established for defamation on the 'net? I think I missed my calling, that's what. Internet law. I could have been a billionaire by now. Good thing I made up my mind early on to be nice here.

Will this have any effect on Daria fandom? That depends. Do you engage in flame wars on any Daria-related message board? This might be a good time to call it quits and keep disagreements to private mail and e-mail, or just ignore everyone you think is an idiot.

Wishing you the best in court,
TAG


P.S.I was only kidding about the connection between lawyers and hell. You do understand that, right? It was meant to be humorous and not real or an insult or anything. I like lawyers. Some of my best friends were eaten by lawyers.