On May 20, 2008 Wisconsin realtor Kent Haluska was arrested and charged with criminal defamation.  According to press accounts, Haluska posted statements on the Real Estate networking site ActiveRain.com linking a fellow realtor to the Russian mafia.  Haluska was also accused of sending letters to the  realtor's clients telling them that they were funding Russian terrorism.  

Haluska pleaded no contest to three misdemeanor charges in August 2008. He was sentenced to 18 months of probation, ordered to have no contact with the victim, banned from real estate work for one year, and required to pay a $1,838 fine.

On February 13, 2009, Charles Novins, a New Jersey attorney, filed a lawsuit on behalf of himself and his law firm, alleging that nine individuals posted defamatory statements about him "in a world-wide forum." Novins attached to his complaint a copy of a post made to the Usenet newsgroup alt.culture.alaska, claiming that Novins employed drug addicts at his firm. Novins alleged that his firm's revenue "declined demonstrably during this period after the publication on February 13, 2008," and he is seeking "compensatory and punitive damages, plus interest, and costs of the suit."

The complaint also names Google, Inc., TSB Bearings, Inc., Databasix, Oakland Community College, and John and Jane Roes (1-100), as defendants, but no cause of action or claim is made in the complaint against any of these defendants.  According to some Usenet posts (here and here), TSB Bearings, Inc and Oakland Community College are employers of defendants Kevin A. Cannon and Vincent Lamb, respectively.  Novins' complaint also "demands judgment" against defendands ABC Corporation 1-10, XYZ Partnership 1-10, and John and Jane Doe 1-100, who the complaint states are "persons, identities unknown, who acted, assisted, and/or participated in the assault on the plaintiff."

Prior to the lawsuit, Novins sent a letter to defendant Cannon stating his intention to file a lawsuit against him, his employer, and unnamed others.  See CMLP's related database entry, Novins v. Cannon (Letter), for details. 

Update:

04/15/09 - Kevin Cannon filed an answer and cross-claims for contribution and indemnification against his co-defendants.

04/27/09 - Carl Osterwald filed an answer, cross-claims for contribution and indemnification against his co-defendants, and a counterclaim against Novins.

09/25/09 - The court granted Cannon and Osterwald's motion to dismiss without prejudice for failing to answer interrogatories. 

10/20/09 - The case was removed to the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey.

04/22/10 -  Novins voluntarily dismissed the action with prejudice as to Kevin Michael Fries and Rhonda Lea Kirk Fries.

04/27/10 -  The court granted the motion of defendants Lamb and Osterwald for judgment on the pleadings, relying on Section 230. The court ordered that defendants Kelso, Young, Mather, Monaghan, Google Inc., TSB Bearings, Databasix, Oakland Community College, Lamb, and Osterwald are terminated as parties in the action, leaving only Cannon.

On February 20, 2008, Gordon Roy Parker filed a lawsuit in federal court in Pennsylvania against the United States Chess Federation and several of its board members, including William Goichberg, Paul Truong, Susan Polgar, and Joel Channing. Parker alleged that current and former board members had impersonated him (and others) on a USENET chess forum.

The court dismissed Parker's original complaint for lack of clarity.  He re-filed in October 2008.  The amended complaint included claims for libel, negligence, Lanham Act violations, Title VII and PHRA retaliation, conspiracy, RICO violations, and fraudulent misrepresentation.  

In December 2008, the court dismissed the complaint with respect to Channing, Goichberg, and the United States Chess Federation.  Judge Joyner partially granted and partially denied Polgar and Truong's motion to dismiss the complaint, ruling that, in order to pursue his claims, Parker must properly serve Polgar and Truong and establish that the court has jurisdiction.

On May 12, 2000, Thomas & Betts Corporation, an electrical connector manufacturer, brought a John Doe lawsuit in California state court against several anonymous posters to a Yahoo message board about the company.  The company alleged that certain of the anonymous posters defamed the company and released its proprietary information. The court authorized Thomas & Betts to subpoena Yahoo! for identifying information. 

After notification from Yahoo!, one of the defendants, "WatchingTNB," filed a motion to strike the complaint under the California anti-SLAPP statute (Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 425.16) and to quash the subpoena.  In August 2000, Thomas & Betts dropped the case against all defendants and issued a joint statement with Public Citizen (WatchingTNB's counsel): 

Although Thomas & Betts believes it has a legitimate interest in investigating releases of non-public information, the John Doe litigation it commenced in California was not the best forum to address those concerns. As a result, Thomas & Betts decided to voluntarily dismiss its lawsuit and thereby put to rest any concern that the litigation might chill fair and open discussion of the company’s business. Public Citizen appreciates Thomas & Betts’s responsiveness to the concerns it raised.

On February 03, 2009, Mark and Rhonda Lesher filed a defamation lawsuit against anonymous messageboard posters on Topix.com.  Self-described as "the world's largest community news site," Topix.com aggregates news articles and hosts messageboards for users to comment and discuss.  According to the Leshers' petition, over 1,700 defamatory statements were made about them by anonymous posters on Topix.com.  The 365-page petition includes 2,568 counts of defamation, libel per se and defamation per se against the anonymous users.  The petition specifically identifies postings made under 178 different usernames, such as "lou," "Awareness," and "BUDWEISER."  Because Topix messageboard users can post under multiple usernames and they can post under usernames previously used by others, the actual number of defendants in the lawsuit is uncertain.

According to the petition, the defamatory comments began "almost immediately" following allegations in April 2008 that the Leshers had sexually assaulted Shannon Coyle.  Mr. Lesher is a practicing attorney and Coyle was one of his previous clients.  Many of the allegedly defamatory comments crudely describe the Leshers as sexual deviants, molesters, and drug dealers. On January 15, 2009, a jury found the Leshers not guilty on all counts of sexual assault in relation to this matter, and they were subsequently acquitted. 

On February 3, 2009, the Leshers filed suit against the anonymous Topix.com posters in the District Court of Tarrant County, Texas, the 348th District Court.  Tarrant County is where the Leshers claim "a significant number" of the defendants are located, according to the "IP address locators" on Topix.com.  In their petition, the Leshers allege that the defamatory comments  "affected their reputations in the community as businesspersons and has significantly damaged their businesses."  Additionally, the comments are alleged to have "created psychological, emotional and financial trauma for both plaintiffs."

The Leshers did not file suit against Topix.com, nor did they request the offending postings be taken down.  However, they did make an ex-parte motion requesting that an out-of-state subpoena be issued to Topix.com, in order to identify the anonymous posters.  On February 04, 2009, Judge Dana Wormach of the District Court of Tarrant County Texas, the 384th District Court, issued an order granting the motion.  The order requested issuance of a letter rogatory to the Superior Court of Santa Clara County, California, where Topix.com is located. 

According to Texas Lawyer, Topix.com CEO Eric Tolles was served with a subpoena on February 5.  Texas Lawyer reports that Tolles is "willing to be reasonable in complying with the subpoena, even though requesting information for 178 names strikes him as 'fairly broad.'"  Additionally, Tolles is quoted saying "all we're going to be able to provide them with is an IP address," which is just the first step to identifying the posters.  The subpoena required the documents be produced by March 6, but according to Texas Lawyer, the Leshers have granted Topix.com an additional week to comply.

Judge Wormach's also ordered the Leshers to post notice of the subpoena "on the appropriate message boards on Topix.com," so that any objections could be made before February 18.  In a thread titled "Lesher v. Doe defamation lawsuit," William Pieratt Demond, who represents the Leshers, published notification of the lawsuit and the subpoena on Topix.com.  Demond advised those making libelous postings to "cease and desist."  Additionally, he offered "conditional immunity" to the first defendant who could provide the name, address, and telephone number of the poster using the pseudonym "lou."  The offer did not extend to the user of the name "lou," users of thee other pseudonyms, or anyone in the Coyel family.  Demond told Texas Lawyer that so far, no posters had come forward.

Update:

03/27/09 - The court denied Topix' motion to quash the subpoena.

In 2008, the state of Wisconsin brought criminal defamation charges against Laura Janzig.  According to Northland's NewsCenter, Janzig wrote a series of emails to members of the Superior, Wisconsin School District falsely claiming that a teacher was engaging in sexual activity with students.  On October 27th, 2008, Janzig pled guilty to the charge of criminal defamation under Wis. Stat. § 942.01(1), which is a Class A misdemeanor.  The court sentenced her to 1 year of probation, 20 days in jail, and a $100 fine plus costs.  It also ordered her to pay restitution to the Superior Police Department.  

On February 03, 2009, Mark and Rhonda Lesher filed a defamation lawsuit against anonymous messageboard posters on Topix.com.  Self-described as "the world's largest community news site," Topix.com aggregates news articles and hosts messageboards for users to comment and discuss.  According to the Leshers' petition, over 1,700 defamatory statements were made about them by anonymous posters on Topix.com.  The 365-page petition includes 2,568 counts of defamation, libel per se and defamation per se against the anonymous users.  The petition specifically identifies postings made under 178 different usernames, such as "lou," "Awareness," and "BUDWEISER."  Because Topix messageboard users can post under multiple usernames and they can post under usernames previously used by others, the actual number of defendants in the lawsuit is uncertain.

According to the petition, the defamatory comments began "almost immediately" following allegations in April 2008 that the Leshers had sexually assaulted Shannon Coyle.  Mr. Lesher is a practicing attorney and Coyle was one of his previous clients.  Many of the allegedly defamatory comments crudely describe the Leshers as sexual deviants, molesters, and drug dealers. On January 15, 2009, a jury found the Leshers not guilty on all counts of sexual assault in relation to this matter, and they were subsequently acquitted. 

On February 3, 2009, the Leshers filed suit against the anonymous Topix.com posters in the District Court of Tarrant County, Texas, the 348th District Court.  Tarrant County is where the Leshers claim "a significant number" of the defendants are located, according to the "IP address locators" on Topix.com.  In their petition, the Leshers allege that the defamatory comments  "affected their reputations in the community as businesspersons and has significantly damaged their businesses."  Additionally, the comments are alleged to have "created psychological, emotional and financial trauma for both plaintiffs."

The Leshers did not file suit against Topix.com, nor did they request the offending postings be taken down.  However, they did make an ex-parte motion requesting that an out-of-state subpoena be issued to Topix.com, in order to identify the anonymous posters.  On February 04, 2009, Judge Dana Wormach of the District Court of Tarrant County Texas, the 384th District Court, issued an order granting the motion.  The order requested issuance of a letter rogatory to the Superior Court of Santa Clara County, California, where Topix.com is located. 

According to Texas Lawyer, Topix.com CEO Eric Tolles was served with a subpoena on February 5.  Texas Lawyer reports that Tolles is "willing to be reasonable in complying with the subpoena, even though requesting information for 178 names strikes him as 'fairly broad.'"  Additionally, Tolles is quoted saying "all we're going to be able to provide them with is an IP address," which is just the first step to identifying the posters.  The subpoena required the documents be produced by March 6, but according to Texas Lawyer, the Leshers have granted Topix.com an additional week to comply.

Judge Wormach's also ordered the Leshers to post notice of the subpoena "on the appropriate message boards on Topix.com," so that any objections could be made before February 18.  In a thread titled "Lesher v. Doe defamation lawsuit," William Pieratt Demond, who represents the Leshers, published notification of the lawsuit and the subpoena on Topix.com.  Demond advised those making libelous postings to "cease and desist."  Additionally, he offered "conditional immunity" to the first defendant who could provide the name, address, and telephone number of the poster using the pseudonym "lou."  The offer did not extend to the user of the name "lou," users of thee other pseudonyms, or anyone in the Coyel family.  Demond told Texas Lawyer that so far, no posters had come forward.

Update:

03/27/09 - The court denied Topix' motion to quash the subpoena.

08/03/09 - ABC News reports that the Leshers amended their complaint to name Shannon Coyel, Gerald Coyel, James Coyel, Charlie Doescher, Pat Doescher, and Apache Truck & Van Parts as defendants.

04/24/12 - The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that a jury in Tarrant County awarded the plaintiffs $13.78 million in damages for libel against defendants Shannon and Gerald Coyel, and Charlie and Pat Doescher.

06/08/12 - The court granted a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, rendering judgment in favor of the defendant and ordering the plaintiff to pay defendant's court costs.