A former Vogue cover girl has won the right to make Google reveal the identity of an anonymous blogger who called her a "skank". Cohen wins a landmark court victory Photo: Live News.com.au
Cohen wins a landmark court victory Photo: Live News.com.au
Liskula Cohen, 37, was the target of a barrage of alleged insults on the Skanks in NYC blog.
The Canadian-born model, determined to sue for defamation, launched a court bid in January to find out who was responsible.
In an unprecedented ruling, Manhattan Judge Joan Madden said Google must reveal the blogger's name, The Sydney Morning Post (SMP) reported.
Cohen wins a landmark court victory Photo: Live News.com.au
Liskula Cohen, 37, was the target of a barrage of alleged insults on the Skanks in NYC blog.
The Canadian-born model, determined to sue for defamation, launched a court bid in January to find out who was responsible.
In an unprecedented ruling, Manhattan Judge Joan Madden said Google must reveal the blogger's name, The Sydney Morning Post (SMP) reported.
Everybody is waiting to see who this coward is.Cohen's lawyer Steven Wagner
The judge said it was Cohen's right to take legal action against the author, who wrote on Google-owned blogger.com, Live News.com said.
The search engine giant will now be forced to disclose the identity, presumably when the case next returns to court.
Among the comments the blogger made were: "I would have to say the first-place award for 'Skankiest in NYC' would have to go to Liskula Gentile Cohen."
The blogger went on to ridicule her as a "40 something" and "a psychotic, lying… still going to clubs at her age, skank".
Cohen, who is based in New York, has modelled for Giorgio Armani and Versace and appeared on the cover of the Australian edition of Vogue, the SMP said.
But her career ground to a halt in 2007 when she needed 46 stitches for a face wound after a man stabbed her with a broken glass, the New York Post reported.
Judge Madden rejected claims by the blogger's lawyer that the comments were mere "trash talk" and only factual assertions could be considered libelous.
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Cohen told the New York Post: "When I saw that blog, it was awful. All I can say for this person is, I really, truly hope that they have more in their life than this."
Her lawyer Steven Wagner hoped the decision would send a message that the internet was "not a free-for-all" and said: "Everybody is waiting to see who this coward is."
The blogger's lawyer Anne Salisbury warned the ruling would open the "floodgates" for anyone who has been the subject of a nasty comment online to take legal action.
The search engine giant will now be forced to disclose the identity, presumably when the case next returns to court.
Among the comments the blogger made were: "I would have to say the first-place award for 'Skankiest in NYC' would have to go to Liskula Gentile Cohen."
The blogger went on to ridicule her as a "40 something" and "a psychotic, lying… still going to clubs at her age, skank".
Cohen, who is based in New York, has modelled for Giorgio Armani and Versace and appeared on the cover of the Australian edition of Vogue, the SMP said.
But her career ground to a halt in 2007 when she needed 46 stitches for a face wound after a man stabbed her with a broken glass, the New York Post reported.
Judge Madden rejected claims by the blogger's lawyer that the comments were mere "trash talk" and only factual assertions could be considered libelous.
View Larger Map
Cohen told the New York Post: "When I saw that blog, it was awful. All I can say for this person is, I really, truly hope that they have more in their life than this."
Her lawyer Steven Wagner hoped the decision would send a message that the internet was "not a free-for-all" and said: "Everybody is waiting to see who this coward is."
The blogger's lawyer Anne Salisbury warned the ruling would open the "floodgates" for anyone who has been the subject of a nasty comment online to take legal action.
6:53pm UK, Wednesday August 19, 2009
Source - news.sky.com
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