Recently, however, the Act has been turned into a weapon in a never-ending battle between the Church of Scientology and some of its detractors. Interestingly, the DMCA was enacted after a number of lawsuits were filed by the Church of Scientology claiming online copyright infringement. Some commentators believed that the results of those suits were inconsistent, with some Courts finding liability for infringement while others reached the opposite conclusion. As a result, Congress came up with a statutory solution by enacting the DCMA, which the Church is now invoking in its new litigation. Chat rooms are filled with people claiming to be someone they are not.
Men pretend to be women, women pretend to be men and it can be as harmless fun as a masquerade ball.
But the reality is that this anonymity is often illusory, and it is predictable that there will also be claims made by those who thought they were posting anonymously, only to find themselves revealed to the world. Raytheon recently filed a lawsuit in Boston over online comments that it claimed were defamatory and revealed confidential information. Using aliases, people who appeared to be company employees posted comments regarding Raytheon's business affairs and criticized its chief executive. Indeed, after learning who had posted the messages Raytheon voluntarily dismissed its lawsuit. In a medium that has enjoyed explosive growth driven by its openness, it is a crowning irony for the media to be at risk for providing information.