The Process that John Doe is Due: Addressing the Legal Challenge to Internet Anonymity
![handle is hein.journals/vjolt5 and id is 22 raw text is: 5 Va. J.L. & Tech. 3 (2000) <http://www.vjolt.net>
1522-1687 / 9 2000 Virginia Journal of Law and Technology Association
VIRGINIA JOURNAL of LAW and TECHNOLOGY
UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA Symposium 2000 1 5 VA. J.L. & TEcH.
The Process that John Doe is Due:
Addressing the Legal Challenge to Internet Anonymity
David L. Sobel[J
I. Introduction
1. Over the past few years, the Internet's popularity has increased dramatically. The ease with which
online users can communicate with each other, view information, and conduct commercial transactions
have been among the main attractions of the medium. Anonymity -- the ability to conceal one's identity
while communicating -- has also been an appealing characteristic for a majority of Internet users.
Individuals are able to post to message boards, converse in chatrooms, and visit informational sites
while keeping their identities private. This anonymity allows the persecuted, the controversial, and the
simply embarrassed to seek information -- and disseminate it -- while maintaining their privacy and
reputations in both cyberspace and the material world.
2. Ironically, the anonymity that has contributed to the Internet's growing popularity is coming under
attack. Armed with broad warrant and subpoena powers, law enforcement agencies are finding
cyberspace to be fertile ground for the conduct of investigations, often seeking the identities of
anonymous users.[1J Raising significant privacy concerns for the average Internet user, civil litigants
increasingly are using the discovery process to pierce the veil of online anonymity. This article will
address the individual's significant interest in anonymity, the growing challenge to this vital attribute of
the Internet and possible procedural remedies to protect the identities of legitimate users.
II. Anonymity and Free Speech
3. While the personal privacy interest in controlling the disclosure of one's identity is apparent, anonymity
also plays an important role in fostering free expression. The protection of anonymity thus takes on
added significance on the Internet, a medium which provides individuals with unprecedented
opportunities to both publish and receive information. While the expressive powers of the Internet have
long been understood by its users, the medium's potential attained recognized constitutional status only
in 1997. In ACLU v. Renofi2, the Supreme Court reviewed the Communications Decency ActI3J, the
first federal statute seeking to regulate Internet content. In a landmark decision defining the scope of
the online medium's First Amendment protection, the Court noted that the Internet
provides relatively unlimited, low-cost capacity for communication of all kinds ... [t]his dynamic,
multifaceted category of communication includes not only traditional print and news services, but also](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/vjolt5&div=5&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
What Is HeinOnline?
Contact us for annual subscription options:
Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?
profiles profiles most
The Process that John Doe is Due: Addressing the Legal Challenge to Internet Anonymity
Contact us for annual subscription options:
Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?
profiles profiles most