The subpoena requests InfoSpace turn over the identities of 23 speakers who used pseudonyms in participating on the Silicon Investor Web site owned by InfoSpace. The motion to quash the subpoena was filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle. While Doe does maintain a Silicon Investor account, Doe never made any statements about 2TheMart, nor has Doe ever posted on Silicon Investor's 2TheMart message board. The courts should not allow subpoenas to be used for 'fishing expeditions' when individuals' First Amendment rights are at stake. The chilling effect on free speech would be catastrophic.
People commonly use pseudonyms when speaking on the Internet.
This promotes a diversity of viewpoints in cyberspace. In their brief filed today, the ACLU and EFF argue that the Court should adopt the same test currently used to determine whether to compel identification of anonymous sources of journalists or members of private organizations. If so, the Court must then balance the harm to the anonymous speakers against the plaintiff's need to discover the identity of the speaker. Anonymity should be preserved unless the identity of the anonymous person is clearly shown to be of central importance to the case. After its stock price plunged in 1999, a number of investors sued for securities fraud, alleging that the company had misled them about its prospects.