Prof. Cotter Cited in Arizona Court of Appeals Defamation Case

On February 6, 2018, the Arizona Court of Appeals handed down its opinion in Doe v. Mahoney, a case involving the question of whether an internet service provider was required to disclose the identity of a blogger who published statements that the complaining party contended were defamatory. In the course of granting relief from an order denying the blogger’s motion to quash the subpoena, the court cited an article co-authored by Thomas Cotter and Lyrissa Lidsky, Authorship, Audiences, and Anonymous Speech, 82 Notre Dame L. Rev. 1537, 1594-1602 (2007), for the proposition that “[i]f all it takes is an allegation of defamation to uncover a defendant’s identity, the right to speak anonymously is very fragile indeed . . . [o]n the other hand, anonymity should not immunize the defendant’s tortious conduct.”