Ding an sich Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> > > Clearly you don't know what you're talking
> > about.
> > > Do a bit of research. You think you can say
> > > whatever you want about people with no
> > > consequences? This is defamation. All that
> > matters
> > > is whether or not the party being defamed
> > bothers
> > > to pursue legal action. It's not like any of
> > this
> > > is uncommon - you must just be an idiot.
> >
> > The advantage of being anonymous on the
> Internet
> > is that it's basically a license to libel,
> because
> > the costs (lawyers fees and lots of expensive
> > computer forensics) involved in bringing the
> > libelist to account are so high that only
> someone
> > with a shitload of money could pursue an
> action.
> >
> > No lawyer would take such a case on
> contingency,
> > because the chances of a meaningful recovery
> are
> > slim to none.
>
>
> Once again, SUBPOENA...
The only way to get a subpoena like you're talking about would to have a judge order one (specifically, a
subpoena duces tecum) in support of a civil action for defamation (Virginia does not make a distinction between libel and slander), a.k.a. a lawsuit.
Even if you do not engage an attorney to bring a lawsuit, you must still pay the court costs (simply filing a lawsuit in Circuit Court costs something like $125), process service costs, and Virginia statute also allows anyone you
do serve with a subpoena to charge you their costs of fulfilling your requests (I would imagine Cary's billable rate for this kind of work is about $125/hr.)
I would estimate that the minimum cost would be about $500 - $1000, and that's if you do all the legwork yourself, no lawyer involved.
Since this is between two and four weeks' take-home pay for the average user of Fairfax Underground, I still say that anonymity is basically a license for libel on the Internet.
There's a fee schedule here if you want to look at it:
http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/courts/circuit/pdf/ccr-a-20.pdf